Defending world champion Valentino Rossi claimed pole position for the British Grand Prix here on Saturday.The Yamaha rider finished just ahead of Spaniards Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo with only one second covering the first seven on the grid.
Rossi ensured pole for Sunday's race with the top qualifying time of 1min 28.116sec which gave the eight-time world champion's fourth pole of the season.
Pedrosa was fastest in practice in the rain on Friday and again in Saturday's early session only for Rossi to turn on the power when it mattered most to edge out the Spaniard by .095sec.
Former world champion Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards will start on the second row.
"I'm surprised," was Rossi's initial reaction after bagging his 55th career pole but his first at Donington since 2005.
He suggested rain, a definite possibility on raceday, could well play a major part on Sunday.
"We're not at the maximum with the hard tyre, so if tomorrow is dry, we'll have to reconsider and modify out settings as I don't have much grip," he added.
Pedrosa was satisfied with his afternoon's work.
"Front row is good, as we've not been there in the last few races so that's important," said the Honda rider.
The flamboyant Italian is targeting his 102nd grand prix win at Donington, which is staging its last MotoGP ahead of next year's move to Silverstone.
In 250cc qualifying, Spain's Hector Barbera snatched pole from Italian champion Marco Simoncelli by .092sec with championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama of Japan and another Spaniard Alex Debon completing the front row of the grid.
Briton Bradley Smith gave the home crowd something to shout about after taking pole in the 125cc division.
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