From team-mate RossiIn the eighth qualifying session of the 2007 MotoGP World Championship Fiat Yamaha's Colin Edwards took his second pole position of the season at Donington Park.
Edwards put the quality of the Michelin qualifying tyre to excellent use as he snatched
pole from team-mate Valentino Rossi on the 28th of his 29 laps with a hot time of 1'28.531s.
Edwards was 0.146s quicker than his Italian colleague and will look for his elusive first ever Grand Prix victory tomorrow, at the English circuit where he earned his first podium when he finished second in 2004. Edwards' only other career pole was at Le Mans earlier this season where he ended up 12th in a wet race, so the Texas Tornado aims to break the current nine race MotoGP pole jinx tomorrow at one of his favourite tracks.
Rossi of course has a superb record in front of the British fans but there will be several contenders for victory, including Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa who starts from third – the young Catalan rider having won the MotoGP race here last year and also as a 250cc rider in 2004.
Pedrosa's team-mate Nicky Hayden qualified in a much improved fourth place and the World Champion appeared to be pleased with the result after his difficult start to the season.
Current World Championship leader Casey Stoner looked disappointed to have concluded the session with a second row start after making a mistake on the final corner of a flying lap when pole position looked well within his grasp, resulting in him taking fifth place on the grid.
Completing the front row is ‘Anglo-American' John Hopkins of Rizla Suzuki who with English parents and a house close to the Donington Park circuit in Leicestershire is assured of great support from the stands in tomorrow's race.
Honda LCR's Carlos Checa (seventh), Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet (eighth) and Honda Gresini's Marco Melandri (ninth) were all within a second of the pole time, while Melandri's team-mate Toni Elias qualified tenth despite running wide onto the lush green grass at the side of the Donington track with ten minutes to go.
DORNA / CAPSIS International
