Rossi takes shock pole

Valentino Rossi has taken pole position for the Sepang GP after a massive downpour saw the cancellation of the qualifying session.

After a slow start on the first day Rossi went all out during the morning practice session to take the fastest time so far but the rain came down before qualifying and organisers made the decision to cancel and use the combined practice times to set the grid.

Nicky Hayden takes second place on the grid with Friday’s fastest rider Loris Capirossi taking the final place on the front row.

Kenny Roberts Junior managed to hang on to fourth place on the grid followed by the suffering Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa’s crash during Friday’s practice left him with a gash on his leg that made it very difficult to get in position on the bike.

The Repsol Honda rider put in the least number of laps and had to use a box to get on and off the bike.

Positions:

Valentino Rossi

Nicky Hayden

Loris Capirossi

Kenny Roberts

Dani Pedrosa

Sete Gibernau

Randy De Puniet

John Hopkins

Marco Melandri

Casey Stoner

Colin Edwards

Shinya Nakano

Makoto Tamada

Tony Elias

Carlos Checa

Chris Vermeulen

Alex Hofmann

James Ellison

Jose Luis Cardoso