Rossi praises Yamaha qualifying strategy

Rain earlier in the day meant that the track was wet for most of the Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying session, but it dried towards the end of the hour, prompting a late flurry of quick times.

Rossi was pleased that Yamaha had allowed him to get practice time in various conditions and felt his final qualifying runs had been ideally timed.

"Today the conditions were incredible, so this practice was something different," he said.

"It's not just about the settings or qualifying tyres, it was also about strategy. You also had to be lucky to go out on track at the right moment with the right tyre.

"I think we worked very well in the pits. We always put the right tyres on for the condition of the track, and I stayed at the top from the beginning to the end. So we worked well, and we were also quite lucky."

The 2008 champion looked set for pole as the session neared its end, only to be pipped by Dani Pedrosa as the Honda rider benefited from the drying track to make a huge improvement with his last lap.

Rossi said he was not concerned about losing pole though, as he was just content to be back at the front having qualified fourth at Motegi then only 12th at Phillip Island following a crash.

"At the end when I saw at one point I was up on pole position, but Dani was faster than me, so congratulations to him," said Rossi.

"But I'm happy with the results because it's been two races where I didn't start on the first row and that's important for tomorrow."