Dani Pedrosa rues late error after missing Catalunya MotoGP pole

The Spaniard had been one of the pre-session favourites after going clear of his rivals in the final practice, but left it late to try and displace works Honda team-mate Casey Stoner in qualifying.

With two minutes remaining Pedrosa began his charge but ran deep and into the gravel at Turn 10, effectively bringing his pole bid to a premature close and leaving him fifth.

"It was a difficult qualifying session because I spent a major part of the hour testing the used soft tyres and I was down in the classification," Pedrosa said, "but I was not worried because I knew that I had two new soft tyres for the end of the practice.

"When we put the first one on, I immediately improved my lap times and I jumped to second place, then on my final flying lap I braked too late, I had a big shake on the bike and I ran wide.

"From this side it's a pity because I missed my chance at pole position or, at least, the front row of the grid.

"Anyway, I'm happy with the work we did yesterday and today's preparation for the race and for me this is always the most important thing. Let's see if together with my team we can improve the bike slightly for tomorrow."