Rossi snatches last-gasp Qatar pole

The Fiat Yamaha Team rider had been one of the favourite to take the top spot, but MotoGP's new tyres rules meant that nothing was guaranteed as everyone left it until right at the end of the session to set their best laps.

With riders struggling to find a clear track as they attempted to set their quick laps, the outcome was uncertain until Rossi pipped Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stone by just five thousands of a second right before the chequered flag came out.

Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards, who had been quickest in the morning free practice session, had been near the top of the timing sheets for much of qualifying but eventually ended up third.

Honda Gresini's Toni Elias bounced back from a mid-session run across the gravel trap to take the fourth best time - and surprised many by being the quickest Honda rider out there.

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took fifth on the grid, with Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins ending up sixth - probably slightly further down that he was expecting after being one of Yamaha's closest challengers throughout practice.

Behind Ducati's Marlboro's Loris Capirossi in seventh, Frenchman Randy de Puniet put in a better than expected performance for Kawasaki - having been at the top of the time sheets for much of the session.

De Puniet was believed to have been one of the first riders to use qualifying tyres, and duly had been on pole from halfway through the session until other riders followed suit near the end.

As well as the excitement on track, there were a few off-track incidents. Marco Melandri ran wide after trying a late outbraking move on his teammate Elias, while Shinya Nakano crashed after losing the front end of his bike before the final dash for times.

Jeremy McWilliams was unable to match the pace he had set in practice on his Ilmor, and the Ulsterman will start the race in 20th position after he had a high-speed crash towards the end of the session.

Pos  Rider                Team                   Time              Laps
 1.  Valentino Rossi      Fiat Yamaha Team       1:55.002            26
 2.  Casey Stoner         Ducati Marlboro Team   1:55.007  + 0.005   18
 3.  Colin Edwards        Fiat Yamaha Team       1:55.233  + 0.231   24
 4.  Toni Elias           Honda Gresini          1:55.358  + 0.356   20
 5.  Dani Pedrosa         Repsol Honda Team      1:55.361  + 0.359   24
 6.  John Hopkins         Rizla Suzuki MotoGP    1:55.833  + 0.831   22
 7.  Loris Capirossi      Ducati Marlboro Team   1:55.851  + 0.849   19
 8.  Randy De Puniet      Kawasaki Racing Team   1:55.933  + 0.931   21
 9.  Nicky Hayden         Repsol Honda Team      1:56.041  + 1.039   22
10.  Marco Melandri       Honda Gresini          1:56.222  + 1.220   23
11.  Shinya Nakano        Konica Minolta Honda   1:56.306  + 1.304   22
12.  Carlos Checa         Honda LCR              1:56.609  + 1.607   24
13.  Chris Vermeulen      Rizla Suzuki MotoGP    1:56.639  + 1.637   24
14.  Olivier Jacque       Kawasaki Racing Team   1:56.754  + 1.752   21
15.  Alex Barros          Pramac d'Antin         1:56.814  + 1.812   22
16.  Sylvain Guintoli     Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3   1:57.257  + 2.255   23
17.  Alex Hofmann         Pramac d'Antin         1:57.274  + 2.272   22
18.  Kenny Roberts Jr     Team Roberts           1:57.495  + 2.493   19
19.  Makoto Tamada        Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3   1:58.024  + 3.022   20
20.  Jeremy Mcwilliams    Ilmor GP               1:59.606  + 4.604   17
21.  Andrew Pitt          Ilmor GP               1:59.725  + 4.723   18