Valentino Rossi made the perfect start to his bid to seal a successful defence of his world title in Malaysia by claiming pole for Sunday’s grand prix.
The 30-year-old Italian will win his seventh world crown in this class if he can finish in the top four places.
Rossi’s stunning performance, which delivered a lap record at the Sepang circuit, came in sweltering heat and humidity. BBC Sport
Rossi set the early pace in the hour-long session, but Stoner lowered his mark shortly after the 20-minute mark with a lap of 2:01.445.
But Rossi, chasing a seventh world title in the top MotoGP category and his ninth overall, regained top spot with 25 minutes remaining in 2:01.210.
Nobody was able to challenge his lead and the 30-year-old was left to race purely to lower his own leading time, providing the crowd with a champagne finish as his eventual pole mark saw him break the lap record two minutes from the end of the session.
There was still time for Lorenzo to snatch second place in the closing seconds, with Pedrosa also nipping in ahead of Stoner for third. The Press Association
Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) all came through inside the top ten as well. MotoGP
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