Hayden takes GP Pole

Nicky Hayden has taken pole position for Sunday’s American Grand Prix.

The US rider has dominated the entire weekend so far and beat current championship leader Valantino Rossi to the top spot by 0.354 seconds.

Most of the riders took a long time to get the right settings for the incredible track with Rossi commenting that the settings needed for the undulating Laguna Seca circuit are like the settings for no other circuit they have ever ridden.

The final place on the front row of the grid went to Alex Barros with Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards and John Hopkins finishing the second row.

“It’s a great feeling after all these years to be first when it counts,” said Hayden. “The weekend just keeps getting better and better – I just hope it keeps going in that direction because tomorrow is when it really counts. It’s great to give all my people something to cheer about. The whole team has done a great job – the bike feels so good. We used some great Michelins and I’m just so happy. I’m not really worried about the race tomorrow – I just want to enjoy it.”

Former GP rider Neil Hodgson failed to get anywhere in the AMA Superbike race that ran at the track on Saturday. Despite looking forward to the race the Brit crashed out on the corkscrew on the first lap. His team-mate Ben Bostrom went on to win.

MotoGP Qualifying positions:

Hayden

Rossi

Barros

Bayliss

Edwards

Hopkins

Biaggi

Checa

Tamada

Nakano

Melandri

Roberts

Gibernau

Capirossi

Hofmann

Xaus

Elias

Rolfo

Byrne

Ellison

Battaini