Pedrosa snatches Le Mans pole

The Honda rider managed a superb effort right at the last second to sneak ahead of the three men who are currently in front of him in the points standings.

The Spaniard's time of 1m33.974s beat Jorge Lorenzo's (Yamaha) by the tiny margin of 0.005 seconds, followed by Casey Stoner's Ducati a further seven hundredths behind completing the front row.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi, on the second works Yamaha, was never a proper threat for pole, managing to lead the session only in the first quarter of an hour. Ultimately he had to settle for fourth, 0.132s behind Pedrosa.

Andrea Dovizioso managed a fifth spot on the grid with his Honda, followed by Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), who led proceedings in the middle part of the session, and the Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi.

Marco Melandri will start the race from ninth position after the Italian lost the front of his Hayate Kawasaki at the half-hour mark, crashed and tumbled. His left hand was slightly hurt when it got caught under the handlebar, but he was able to resume riding after walking back to the pits.

Randy de Puniet completes the top ten despite a crash with his LCR Honda with only seven minutes of the session gone.

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time
 1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            1m33.974s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           1m33.979s  + 0.005s
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           1m34.049s  + 0.075s
 4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           1m34.106s  + 0.132s
 5.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            1m34.300s  + 0.326s
 6.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    1m34.330s  + 0.356s
 7.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           1m34.676s  + 0.702s
 8.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           1m34.839s  + 0.865s
 9.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  1m35.008s  + 1.034s
10.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        1m35.399s  + 1.425s
11.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    1m35.431s  + 1.457s
12.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    1m35.524s  + 1.550s
13.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           1m35.682s  + 1.708s
14.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    1m35.741s  + 1.767s
15.  Yuki Takahashi    Scot Honda       1m35.774s  + 1.800s
16.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    1m35.785s  + 1.811s
17.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    1m36.136s  + 2.162s