Rossi takes pole in Assen

Added on Friday, June 26th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor

Valentino Rossi will start from pole position in Assen after an exciting four-way battle in Friday’s qualifying that saw tempers fraying.

In a see-saw battle with Casey Stoner and teammate Jorge Lorenzo, the world champion booked his place at the front of the grid with a time of 1:36.025, 0.085sec ahead of Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.

The injury-prone Spaniard was the only rider in the top five not to have help the top position at some stage during the hour-long session but a surge in the final ten minutes saw him follow Rossi across the line in the second fastest time of the day.

The lead changed hands throughout the session between Stoner, Rossi, Lorenzo and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards before the usual suspects were left to fight it out in the latter stages of a session that ended on a sour note with both Stoner and Alex de Angelis venting their frustration.

Jorge Lorenzo continued his 100% record of front row starts with the third fastest time whilst Stoner will lead the second row tomorrow alongside Edwards and Loris Capriossi.

De Angelis was lucky to avoid a serious accident with Gabor Talmasci after he reacted to what was an apparent obstruction just before the line by Suzuki rider Capirossi whilst Stoner was clearly angered by what seemed to be a block from Jorge Lorenzo as the riders came into the pit lane at the end.

British rider James Toseland put in an improved performance, holding fourth position early on before dropping back down to ninth.

Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’36.025
2	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	+0.085
3	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	+0.368
4	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	+0.608
5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+0.735
6	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	+0.928
7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	+1.169
8	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	+1.212
9	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	+1.298
10	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	+1.448
11	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+1.612
12	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing Ducati	+1.724
13	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	+1.734
14	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki	+1.923
15	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	+2.111
16	Sete GIBERNAU	SPA	Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati	+2.428
17	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing Ducati	+2.580
18	TAKAHASHI	JPN	Scot Racing Team Honda	+2.594
19	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team Honda	+3.38