Rossi storms to Malaysian GP pole

The reigning champion dominated the session at a sweltering Sepang, moving further and further ahead during the final quarter of an hour until he beat his own qualifying record - set in the 990cc era - by lapping in 2m00.518s.

Rossi's title rival Jorge Lorenzo eventually managed to take second on the sister Yamaha, 0.569s down on pole. Lorenzo had been as low as sixth earlier in the session, before a last gasp improvement took him to second. He lost the position to Honda's Dani Pedrosa moments later, but regained it with his final lap.

Pedrosa remained third, meaning that Casey Stoner (Ducati) will start off the front row in fourth.

Loris Capirossi took a superb fifth for the hitherto struggling Suzuki team - his best starting position since Mugello in June.

Toni Elias was the best satellite rider in sixth on his Gresini Honda, ahead of Nicky Hayden's Ducati and Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda.

Andrea Dovizioso was pushed outside the top ten on the second factory Honda and will start 11th, between Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards and Gresini's Alex de Angelis, while Aleix Espargaro did a fine job on his return to Pramac Ducati to line up right behind his team-mate Mika Kallio in 13th.

Pos  Rider            Bike             Time       Gap
 1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           2m00.518s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           2m01.087s  + 0.569s
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            2m01.254s  + 0.736s
 4.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           2m01.455s  + 0.937s
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           2m01.716s  + 1.198s
 6.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    2m01.918s  + 1.400s
 7.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           2m01.980s  + 1.462s
 8.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        2m02.098s  + 1.580s
 9.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    2m02.195s  + 1.677s
10.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    2m02.274s  + 1.756s
11.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            2m02.362s  + 1.844s
12.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    2m02.435s  + 1.917s
13.  Aleix Espargaro   Pramac Ducati    2m02.859s  + 2.341s
14.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           2m03.032s  + 2.514s
15.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  2m03.088s  + 2.570s
16.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    2m03.528s  + 3.100s
17.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       2m03.874s  + 3.356s