Pedrosa takes last-second Sepang pole

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa stole a last-second pole position on a drying track in qualifying for tomorrow's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

Starting his final lap just ten seconds before the session finished with Valentino Rossi fastest at the time on 2:02.553, Pedrosa was one of several riders to improve their time after the session concluded.

First rider to improve was Rossi himself, going just over half a second faster to dip into the 2:01s. Then Colin Edwards moved into second, before he was demoted by Jorge Lorenzo, with Nicky Hayden pushing Edwards down again as Hayden moved into third.

Pedrosa was still on track, and having left his final run as late as possible, crossed the line and set a time of 2:01.548, four-tenths faster than Rossi's effort.

Andrea Dovizioso, who had set a time with two minutes remaining that put him in provisional pole, ended the session sixth, while Casey Stoner ended up seventh after going fastest with five minutes remaining but running out of time to start a final tilt at pole as the session ended.

Loris Capirossi, Randy de Puniet and John Hopkins completed the top ten, while Anthony West, who was fastest in morning practice and third-fastest with three minutes of qualifying remaining, ended up falling all the way down to thirteenth.

Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 2:01.548 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 2:01.957 + 0.409 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 2:02.171 + 0.623 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 2:02.192 + 0.644 5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 2:02.245 + 0.697 6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 2:02.836 + 1.288 7. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 2:02.953 + 1.405 8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 2:03.078 + 1.530 9. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 2:03.110 + 1.562 10. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 2:03.184 + 1.636 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 2:03.271 + 1.723 12. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2:03.282 + 1.734 13. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 2:02.392 + 1.844 14. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 2:03.835 + 2.287 15. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 2:04.001 + 2.453 16. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 2:04.378 + 2.830 17. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 2:04.679 + 3.131 18. Nobuatsu Aoki Suzuki (B) 2:04.835 + 3.287 19. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 2:05.120 + 3.572

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