Edwards beats Rossi to Donington pole
Colin Edwards has claimed a surprise pole position for the British Grand Prix at Donington Park, leading teammate Valentino Rossi in a factory Yamaha one-two
Rossi had held provisional pole for much of the session, but was unable to improve on his initial 1:28.677 effort in subsequent qualifying tyre runs.
Several other riders - notably Dani Pedrosa, Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner - were up on Rossi's time at the intermediate splits, only to lose time in the Melbourne loop and fail to improve.
Then in the final moments, Edwards produced a 1:28.531 lap to beat his team leader by 0.146 seconds.
Pedrosa will complete the front row, with his teammate Hayden taking his best grid position of the year in fourth, having held a provisional front row slot until Edwards' late improvement. Both the Repsol Hondas had looked capable of taking pole, only to drop several tenths in the final corners.
Stoner was frustrated to end up fifth. He had been on course for pole position on his final run until an unnerving twitch halfway around the Goddards hairpin cost him crucial time.
John Hopkins completes the top six for Suzuki, ahead of Carlos Checa, Randy de Puniet and the two Gresini Hondas. Toni Elias did a remarkable job to grab 10th after having to run back to the pits for his spare bike after his primary machine suffered a mechanical failure with only 10 minutes to go.
Returnee Anthony West will start 17th for his Kawasaki debut, 1.3 seconds slower than teammate de Puniet.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:28.531 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:28.677 + 0.146 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:28.863 + 0.332 4. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:29.025 + 0.494 5. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:29.061 + 0.530 6. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:29.073 + 0.542 7. Carlos Checa Honda 1:29.281 + 0.750 8. Randy de Puniet Kawasaki 1:29.415 + 0.884 9. Marco Melandri Honda 1:29.498 + 0.967 10. Toni Elias Honda 1:29.711 + 1.180 11. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:29.718 + 1.187 12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:29.793 + 1.262 13. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:29.900 + 1.369 14. Alex Hofmann Ducati 1:29.911 + 1.380 15. Alex Barros Ducati 1:30.071 + 1.540 16. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:30.271 + 1.740 17. Anthony West Kawasaki 1:30.718 + 2.187 18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:30.800 + 2.269 19. Kurtis Roberts KR 1:31.543 + 3.012
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