First pole of the year for Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa took his first pole since last June with the Spaniard dominating the afternoon at Sepang. With Marc Marquez four tenths of a second off the pace it was easy to see just how dominant Pedrosa had been.

Valentino Rossi timed things perfectly to get across the line with mere seconds to spare to start his last lap and the Italian piped Jorge Lorenzo to the front row by just 0.001. It was a thrilling climax to the session and just the latest installment in the ebb and flow of this year’s title contenders.

Cal Crutchlow was fifth fastest after an impressive showing with Bradley Smith ninth quickest.