Edwards pips Stoner to claim first pole

American Colin Edwards claimed his first ever MotoGP pole position on an afternoon full of surprises at the Le Mans circuit in France.

The double World Superbike champion finally got his hands on a Tissot pole position watch in his 71st premier class outing after a stunning last lap attack to deny Casey Stoner his first Ducati pole position.

The Aussie, who currently leads the world championship by 15-points from Valentino Rossi, thought he’d grabbed his maiden Ducati pole when Edwards produced his best lap of 1.33.616 right at the death.

Edwards secured pole position with a brilliant performance in the final section of the track. In the first three timed sections, the 33-year-old was down on Stoner’s best time of 1.33.710. But utilising the renowned sweet handling qualities of Yamaha’s factory YZR-M1 and the super soft rear Michelin qualifying tyre, Edwards overhauled Stoner by just 0.094s.

The American, who suffered a massive high-side this morning in the third free practice session but escaped injury said: “I had a big off this morning and that was scary. I got a bit lucky but as far as my best lap I lost time in the first section. Turn One I didn’t do good through but kind of held station for next two sections. The last section I’d missed out on using my first qualifier but I just went screw it, ‘if I crash I crash, the ground didn’t hurt that much as I learned this morning.”

Stoner thought he’d claimed only his second MotoGP pole position of his career when he topped the timesheets with less than three minutes remaining.

But having just missed out he was still delighted to have secured second as he proved that his form and Ducati’s impressive performances are not reliant on fast tracks with long straights.

“I haven’t been off the front two rows yet this season which is a big surprise because normally I’m not much of a qualifier. I thought I might have had pole but Colin just pipped me. But the bike and the tyres have worked brilliantly all weekend and I’m looking forward to a good race, “said Stoner, who has won three out of the opening four races, including the last two in Turkey and China.

If Edwards’ pole was unexpected, nobody could have predicted Carlos Checa finishing top Honda rider as he claimed third on the grid.

He moved to the top of the timesheets with 14 minutes remaining with a best of 1.34.038 on his 19th lap. He bettered that time to increase his advantage at the top six minutes later with a lap of 1.33.859, and that was as good as it got as he lost the front on his last Michelin qualifier.

Edwards’ late surge bumped Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi off the front row with the Italian having to settle for fourth ahead of John Hopkins and Toni Elias.
After yesterday’s impressive display, it was a disappointing session for Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa who were only ninth and 10th quickest respectively.

A big Saturday crowd had something to cheer as well with French rider Sylvain Guintoli soaking up some of the limelight. He shot to the top of the standings with 19 minutes remaining with a best of 1.34.716 having followed Stoner’s GP7 round his home track.

He bettered that time by 0.2s later on to claim a brilliant 11th place on the Dunlop-shod Tech 3 Yamaha.