Edwards on pole as Lorenzo defies injuries

(CNN) -- Colin Edwards snatched pole position for Sunday's China Grand Prix with a stunning last-gasp lap record, while MotoGP joint series leader Jorge Lorenzo made a surprise outing after injury to earn a place on the second row of the grid.

Edwards continued his solid form from Friday's practice sessions to smash Valentino Rossi's 2007 pole position record by nearly three-tenths of a second with a time of 1 minute 58.139 seconds in the final stages of the qualifying run.

The 34-year-old American, still seeking his first victory in the category, claimed the third pole of his MotoGP career and his first since moving to the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team.

"I did two laps very similar and I thought on the last one, 'I know there is more time here,'" Edwards said.

"So I kind of closed my eyes going into turn-one and said, 'Let's see what happens.'"

Rossi will start second place on the grid after clocking 1:58.494 to head off world champion and last year's race winner Casey Stoner, who lines up in the top three for the first time this season.

"I'm quite happy about this practice because we were fast from Friday morning, and I'm happy with the settings on my Yamaha," the Italian said.

Australian Stoner was in contention for pole throughout the session on his Ducati but could not match the pace of the Yamaha riders.

"Since the first race in Qatar things have not gone very well for us," he said. "It's been nice to be riding towards the front again."

Lorenzo, who chipped a bone in his left ankle on Friday and also damaged the right one, will head the second row after bravely returning to the Shanghai track.

The young Spaniard, who was on pole for the season's first three races and turns 21 on Sunday, was just ahead of compatriot and fellow series leader Dani Pedrosa.

The extent of his injuries meant that he had to be helped from his bike by crew members, and he almost repeated his spectacular crash from the day before righting himself.

Italian veteran Loris Capirossi took the sixth spot on the grid on a Rizla Suzuki GSV-R, being the only other rider to time under 1:59.

Edwards' Tech 3 Yamaha team-mate James Toseland of Britain will head the third row, along with Capirossi's Suzuki colleague Chris Vermeulen of Australia and LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet.

Frenchman De Puniet suffered a late crash in Saturday's incident-filled session, while Andrea Dovizioso, 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden, Shinya Nakano and John Hopkins also fell. E-mail to a friend

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