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Rossi secures pole at rainy Sepang

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- World champion Valentino Rossi took pole position for the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix after heavy rain washed out final qualifying.

The Italian Yamaha rider turned in a blistering morning practice lap of two minutes 0.61, the fastest-ever time for two wheels over the 5.548km Sepang Circuit, after struggling for speed on Friday.

That was enough for the five-times world champion as bad weather in the afternoon forced organisers to cancel final qualifying for the MotoGP, 250cc and 125cc classes.

The fastest times from the three practice sessions were taken to decide the grid for Sunday's MotoGP race, with Rossi's morning effort giving him pole ahead of championship leader Nicky Hayden, who clocked 2:01.04.

Italy's Loris Capirossi, on a Ducati, was third with 2:01.17 to complete the front row with American Kenny Roberts Jnr. fourth for Team Roberts with 2:01.90.

"We are a little bit lucky," said Rossi, who is third in the title race 38 points behind Honda's Hayden. "It's certainly strange, I think it's the first time we didn't do qualifying.

"But it's the right decision. The conditions were too dangerous with some parts of the track dry and some like rivers.

"The bike felt very good this morning and I managed a great lap. I'm hoping the weather is okay tomorrow and we can put on a good race."

Another beneficiary of the rain was Hayden's team mate Dani Pedrosa, who struggled to last place during on Saturday because of injuries sustained from a fall on Friday.

However, the Spaniard's 2:02.02 effort on Friday helped him to fifth on the grid. Pedrosa is second in the championship standings, 25 points behind Hayden.

Completing the second row was Spaniard Sete Gibernau, riding for Ducati, on 2:02.181.

Grid positions for the 250cc race were according to first qualifying, with Spain's Aprilia rider Hector Barbera on pole ahead of team mate Jorge Lorenzo and Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama of KTM.

MVA's Alvaro Bautista, who has a huge 69-point lead in the 125cc event, is first on the grid for his race ahead of Mika Kallio and Mattia Pasini.

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