This was a MotoGP qualifying session to savour and it was a triumph for Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) as he squeezed both former Champ Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and newly crowned World number one Casey Stoner (Ducati) into second and third slots with a masterful lap of this challenging circuit.

Stoner had set the early pace with a swift 1m 29.998s lap and the order behind him was Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki), Loris Capirossi (Ducati), then Rossi and local hotshot Anthony West (Kawasaki). Dani lay ninth and his team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) was seventh.

Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda RC212V) was holding eighth spot when with 15 minutes to go the action got hotter in sunny, but chilly and windy, conditions with an ambient temperature of 16 degrees and with the track surface at just 24 degrees.

With sticky qualifying rubber fitted for the final ten minutes of flat out flying lap mayhem, Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha) hoisted himself to seventh while Dani put a claim on the front row with a lap good enough for third. Rossi lay fifth.

But with nine minutes of this hour-long session left to run, Rossi put in a 1m 29.816s time of this 4.448km coastal track to grab pole. It looked as if these qualifying laps from the front runners might hover around the high 1m 29s region as Stoner then replied to Rossi’s marker with a 1m 29.816s time with six minutes left on the clock.

But Pedrosa was on a mission and Dani’s amazing talent yielded a 1m 29.201s lap to put pole way beyond the reach of his rivals. Rossi came closest when he dislodged Stoner from second on the grid with three minutes remaining.

Capirossi too was back in the mix and the veteran Italian elevated himself to fourth before slipping down the order to fifth when Nicky posted a 1m 29.932s time to head the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s 27-lap encounter at this imposing venue.

Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda RC212V) left his best lap until right at the end and within the final minute, the Japanese man took eighth place on the grid with a 1m 30.612s lap.

But the Gresini pairing of Melandri and Toni Elias (Gresini Honda RC212V) couldn’t get on terms with the fast men here today. Melandri will start from 12th place while his Spanish team-mate is way down in 18th.

Carlos Checa (LCR Honda RC212V), who retires from MotoGP at the end of the season, qualified 13th for a fifth row start. While Kurtis Roberts (Roberts KR212V) will launch his Honda-powered machine into the fray just behind Elias in 19th place.

Dani’s lap rapid lap was 0.218 seconds better than Rossi’s effort and 0.615 seconds faster than Stoner’s. And after the disappointment of not finishing the last race at Motegi, the dominant Pedrosa will be determined to work this advantage in the race.

Dani said: “My best ever lap time at this track so I’m happy. Considering how complicated the sessions have been prior to this afternoon, it’s a relief that this one went smoothly. We really needed some consistent dry track time and that’s what we got at last. I was able to improve my speed quite a lot from the first qualifying lap to the second one and I think I got just about the maximum from Michelin’s qualifying tyres, so I’m very pleased. For the race I really hope the weather stays stable. We were on pole position at the last race in Japan but the race-day weather didn’t help us, so I hope tomorrow it’s clear and we can concentrate simply on riding. My pace today on race tyres was quite consistent so hopefully we’re looking OK.”

Nicky said: “That’s by far the best session we’ve had this weekend. Fourth on the grid is not a disaster and if I get a good start I should be OK, though I’d have liked to be on the front row of course. My second qualifying lap was feeling pretty good but the left side of the tyre went off a little bit through the last section and the back of the bike was moving a lot through those last couple of corners – but I held on and was able to get on the second row. Hopefully the weather will stay clear and we can put on a good show tomorrow for these die-hard fans who’ve been braving the cold. I’m ready to put up a fight.”
Nakano, in eighth, said: “I am happy with that! Once more it’s very close, but it’s also very good to be inside the top ten in qualifying again! With the cold conditions it is difficult to choose the tyres here, because if you go for a harder compound it is very difficult to get them warm. We’ve not decided on the race tyre yet – we shall see what the weather has in store for us tomorrow – but our suspension settings have improved a lot. Tomorrow I would prefer dry or wet conditions – not in between, or us changing bikes, as that makes the race a gamble. I’m ready for both conditions and will hope for a good start.”

Melandri in 12th spot said: “Things didn't go as well in qualifying as they did in free practice. We struggled despite all our hard work and we couldn’t fix a vibration problem that’s preventing me from pushing as hard as I would like. We’ve got two solutions to try out in the warm-up tomorrow. The race will depend very much on the weather because it is always so uncertain here.”

Checa, 13th on the grid, said: “Unfortunately we have not made a lot of progress from yesterday and the main problem is still a lack of front grip, I have little confidence in the fast corners. I have had some long, front-end slides and nearly crashed a couple times. We have some set-up ideas to try in the warm-up and hopefully this will improve things for the race. I like this track and know that in the right conditions I can be much faster, but it is not easy when you do not have a comfortable feeling with the bike.”

Elias in 18th said: “It's been a tough weekend. We have a major general problem with the set-up. We've worked really hard with the team to fix it but I've just not been able to get enough feeling to ride with the confidence you need on such a technical circuit. Phillip Island is really fast, probably the fastest circuit on the calendar, so it is imperative to have the right setting. Hopefully we can have a dry race tomorrow and I can get a good start and make up plenty of positions.”

Kurtis Roberts, one place behind Elias, said: “I haven’t been here in ten years so I don’t know if it’s the lines I’m choosing, but getting the thing to hook up and move forward is not going well, that’s plain. The thing is moving around all over the place. The big slides look cool on TV, but looking cool and going fast are different things unfortunately, right now. Things are slowly moving forward, but it hasn’t been the easiest weekend to come to grips with the thing, with the changing weather. If it rains for the race, it’ll help us, but I just want it to be a safe weekend for everybody.”