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PEDROSA ON FRONT ROW AND IN THE HUNT FOR WIN
German Grand Prix at The Sachsenring
Issued 12th July 2008
 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) worked typically hard in a tough hour of final qualifying to snatch a front row start from second on the grid behind poleman Casey Stoner (Ducati) with Yamaha rider Colin Edwards completing the front row.
This is Dani's seventh front row start of the season so far and the current World Championship points leader had to work hard for it. Stoner, who has been in commanding form here, looked set to boss the hour-long session and it took Dani until the final five minutes to cement his place on the front row.
But when he did it was a convincing lap, just 0.353 seconds shy of his Australian rival's 1m 21.067s pole time. Title rival Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) could only manage seventh on the grid for a third row start that could hamper his podium ambitions here at this narrow track.
Stoner topped the timesheets at the start of the session with a 1m 23.149s time and with the track surface at a vastly reduced temperature compared to yesterday, riders had to re-establish a rapport with grip levels at this tight and tricky 3.671km circuit.
Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), who was second fastest yesterday, began well and lay third after ten minutes, but he gradually slipped down the order, unable to find anything more from qualifying tyres to compete at the sharp end of the grid. He ended the session with the tenth fastest time, but only 0.910s off Stoner's pole.
Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V), who was charging hard throughout this session, was an early provisional pole-sitter in the first fifteen minutes until Edwards relieved the Frenchman of top slot with a 1m 21.794s lap. At the halfway point the front row comprised Edwards, De Puniet and De Angelis.
Specks of rain began to spatter riders with twenty minutes to go and this threat of a downpour prompted many to pit and fit qualifying tyres in case the weather worsened - it held off - but the rush for super-grippy rubber was underway.
Stoner reclaimed pole with a 1m 21.666s lap while Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V), who was riding typically hard, finally had something to show for his endeavours with a 1m 21.876s lap, good enough for provisional fourth.
With ten minutes left of the stint Stoner again shaved his lap down. This time to 1m 21.330s and Dani responded by elevating himself from seventh to second with a 1m 21.692s time knocking Rossi off the front row. The Italian former World Champion would then drop to fifth after his Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo snatched fourth.
There was more to come from Stoner though. The Aussie slashed his time again, a 1m 21.067s lap - almost a second quicker than the existing record lap. The final seconds of the session however would yield further surprises.
Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) who'd been quietly whittling away at his lap times found all he needed from qualifying rubber with seconds to spare and hustled his RCV to second on the grid, before Edwards and then Dani snatched that spot back. He ended up fourth, knocking Lorenzo back into fifth.
All six Honda riders are in the top ten here with Dani at two, Dovi fourth to head the second row, De Puniet sixth, Hayden eighth, Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) ninth and De Angelis tenth after looking like a potential front row contender yesterday.
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