Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards has taken pole position for the China Grand Prix after a record lap in Shanghai.

The American rider unexpectedly outpaced Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi, while Australian world champion Casey Stoner was third on his Ducati.

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo achieved a remarkable fourth place, despite his huge crash on Friday which left him with a chipped ankle bone.

Britain's James Toseland, team-mate of Edwards, qualified in seventh.

Edwards, 34, is still looking for his first win in MotoGP but he put in a scorcher of a lap in the final minutes of qualifying to shock Rossi and Stoner.

The pair had looked unbeatable for much of the qualifying session until Edwards broke Rossi's pole record set last year.

LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet suffered a late crash in an incident-filled session, which included falls for Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Shinya Nakano and John Hopkins.

And Lorenzo almost repeated his crash from Friday's practice when his Yamaha bucked wildly coming out of a turn.

Only laps later he was unable to brake in time and had to go off the track into the gravel.

And in the pit lanes the Spaniard could not even dismount his bike without assistance.

In the 125cc class, Britain's Bradley Smith put his Aprilia on pole, with championship leader Simone Corsi only 11th quickest.

Qualifying result for China MotoGP

1. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 1:58.139
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 1:58.494
3. Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 1:58.591
4. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 1:58.711
5. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:58.855
6. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 1:58.941
7. James Toseland (Britain) Yamaha 1:59.254
8. Chris Vermeulen (Australia) Suzuki 1:59.325
9. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 1:59.357
10. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Honda 1:59.507

(BBC)

<< Back