Daily Update MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa snatched pole position from Colin Edwards at Le Mans, ahead of tomorrow's French MotoGP.
The Repsol Honda rider set his fastest lap of 1:32.647 in the last minute of the session, after his Tech 3 Yamaha rival, who was 0.127 seconds slower, had held the top spot for the previous 20 minutes.

This is Pedrosa's first pole position of the year, and by beating Edwards he ended the stranglehold Michelin-shod Yamahas had on qualifying this season, with the American and Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo having taken every previous pole this year.
The front row was completed by reigning champion Casey Stoner, who qualified his Ducati Marlboro in third with a time 0.347 slower than Pedrosa, but showed impressive race pace when on non-qualifying tyres.

The two Fiat Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo qualified in fourth and fifth position respectively.
Lorenzo, who is still recovering from the injuries sustained in an accident sustained in China two weeks ago, went through a gravel trap at high speed midway through the session.
He luckily just managed to stay on the bike as it hopped back on the track, after suffering no consequences in crashes in both yesterday's and this morning's free practice sessions.
The Spanish rookie also made a wrong turn towards the end of the session and went down a road used by the sportscar 24-hour race, forcing him to step off the bike to turn it around.
Nicky Hayden qualified his Repsol Honda in sixth place, ahead of James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha in seventh and Chris Vermeulen's Rizla Suzuki in eighth.
Kawasaki's John Hopkins will start the race from ninth, with JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso completing the top ten.
Marco Melandri in the second works Ducati qualified in a lowly 17th place, over two seconds behind his teammate Stoner
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:32.647
2. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:32.774 + 0.127
3. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:32.994 + 0.347
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:33.157 + 0.510
5. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:33.269 + 0.622
6. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:33.286 + 0.639
7. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:33.396 + 0.749
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:33.400 + 0.793
9. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:33.628 + 0.981
10. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:33.689 + 1.042
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:33.707 + 1.060
12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:33.723 + 1.076
13. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:34.077 + 1.430
14. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:34.561 + 1.914
15. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:34.670 + 2.023
16. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:34.747 + 2.100
17. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:35.082 + 2.434
18. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:35.349 + 2.702
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After a testing start to 2008, Marco Melandri believes he is edging closer to the light at the end of the tunnel after taking fifth place in China.
Fifth place in Shanghai came as a welcome change for Marco Melandri, his best result since a difficult switch to the Ducati Marlboro team at the end of last year. Of all the tracks on the 2008 calendar, Le Mans undoubtedly features high up on the list of those at which the former World Championship runner-up would be favoured to build on such an upturn in fortunes.

Melandri finished second last year in a flag-to-flag race in France, after a win in 2006. In addition, he counts a further three podiums to his name from the lower cylinder categories and an affinity for the historic Bugatti venue. Although previous results have little bearing when confronted with a completely different machine with which to make a mark, the Italian is relishing a return to Le Mans.

`Le Mans is a track with a lot of heavy braking and it cannot be underestimated because it is quite technical, with slow turns followed by some really fast ones. Even so I think I can do well there because I won in 2006 with the 990cc bike and last year I made the podium with the 800cc,´ explains the rejuvenated 25 year-old.

`Personally I have always liked the track so hopefully I can get another good result. We have shown that we're able to come through a difficult situation and we've made real progress so I just can't wait to get back on track now. I feel optimistic and I hope we can confirm our progress on a very different kind of circuit to Shanghai.´
ref[motogp.com

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