Valentino Rossi thought he might have done enough to secure his 50th grand prix pole - and first ever for
Bridgestone - only to be denied in the final minute of Shanghai qualifying by former Fiat Yamaha team-mate
Colin Edwards.
The Texan, now riding for the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team, snatched the top spot from the Italian by 0.355secs, but Rossi and third on the grid
Casey Stoner look like the men to beat in race specification - although predicted rain could throw the event wide open.
"I'm quite happy with this position; third in Estoril, second here... hopefully one better next time!" declared Rossi. "I've been fast here since Friday morning and we've worked so hard with the team and with Bridgestone lately to improve the situation with the qualifying tyre, so we definitely deserve to be here.
"Today I had fun and I was able to fight with my rivals, plus I really enjoyed having the chance to ride at the maximum around this track. When I saw 58.5 on the clock I thought that I had a chance to try for the pole, but then Colin did 58.1 and this was a bit too much for us!
"Anyway it's very important to be on the front row, especially because we don't know whether it will rain or not. Thanks to my mechanics for doing a great job, and now we've just got to hope the rain stays away!" concluded the five time
MotoGP world champion.
"We're getting closer!" added team director Davide Brivio. "Congratulations to Colin for a great lap, it's good for Yamaha to have another pole position; hopefully it will be us soon! We've done a good job overall in the four practice sessions and it seems like we're ready to be competitive now tomorrow, if it's dry. Everyone is expecting rain in which case the situation is less clear, but for the moment we're relaxed and looking forward to an exciting race."
