Pedrosa takes Phillip Island pole

Pedrosa jumped up near the top of times to third with ten minutes remaining, before taking a second off that effort five minutes later with a 1:29.201.

That was good enough for pole position, and was just 0.181 seconds slower than Nicky Hayden's effort on the 990cc machine last year.

Second fastest was Valentino Rossi on his Yamaha, two tenths behind Pedrosa. Ducati's Casey Stoner completes the front row, having been the first rider to break the 1:30 mark halfway through the session, retaking pole again with six minutes remaining in the session.

Both Rossi and Stoner appeared set to take to the track for one more flying lap, but both riders ran out of time.

Pedrosa's teammate and 2006 MotoGP champ Nicky Hayden was next fastest on his Honda, with Loris Capirossi continuing his strong weekend with the fifth fastest time.

After challenging for pole halfway through the session, Randy de Puniet may feel slightly disappointed with his sixth position on the grid.

Alex Barros's seventh was an impressive effort for the Brazilian veteran, with Shinya Nakano, Sylvain Guintoli and Anthony West completing the top ten runners.

Qualifying was a disaster for Suzuki. 14th for John Hopkins and 16th for local rider Chris Vermeulen was not what they would have been hoping for, both riders over two seconds off pole position.

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     (M)  1:29.201
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (M)  1:29.419  + 0.218
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:29.816  + 0.615
 4.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:29.932  + 0.731
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Ducati    (B)  1:30.090  + 0.889
 6.  Randy de Puniet   Kawasaki  (B)  1:30.110  + 0.909
 7.  Alex Barros       Ducati    (B)  1:30.325  + 1.124
 8.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (M)  1:30.612  + 1.411
 9.  Sylvain Guintoli  Yamaha    (D)  1:30.621  + 1.420
10.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:30.649  + 1.448
11.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:30.676  + 1.475
12.  Marco Melandri    Honda     (B)  1:31.078  + 1.877
13.  Carlos Checa      Honda     (M)  1:31.203  + 2.002
14.  John Hopkins      Suzuki    (B)  1:31.386  + 2.185
15.  Makoto Tamada     Yamaha    (D)  1:31.595  + 2.394
16.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:31.810  + 2.609
17.  Chaz Davies       Ducati    (B)  1:32.043  + 2.842
18.  Toni Elias        Honda     (B)  1:32.442  + 3.241
19.  Kurtis Roberts    KR        (M)  1:32.948  + 3.747