Pedrosa takes pole in French MotoGP

Spain's Dani Pedrosa grabbed pole position for the French Grand Prix for the second successive season here on Saturday.

LE MANS, France (AFP) -

Spain's Dani Pedrosa grabbed pole position for the French Grand Prix for the second successive season here on Saturday.

The Honda rider timed 1min 33.974sec to edge out compatriot Jorge Lorenzo, on a Yamaha, and Australian Casey Stoner was third fastest on a Ducati.

"My aim was to be on the front row. Pole position is great, but the race will depend on the weather," said Pedrosa after grabbing his first pole of the season on a day where conditions switched from heavy rain to a dry surface.

Lorenzo just missed out on what would have been a second successive pole position.

"I was a tiny bit unlucky on my last lap," said the Spaniard.

"But the important thing is that were on the first row and now we can try to get the good start that we need. We came second but we were very close to the first position, only five thousandths of a second down and I feel good on the bike."

Former world champion Stoner is hoping rain won't be a factor on Sunday.

"It looks like 50/50, it could be wet, could be dry. It would be nice to think we could have another dry race, as there is less pressure and it is more fun," said Stoner.

"We look close in terms of lap times but I think there are only five of us who are close enough to win the race. If it is dry I expect a battle at front."

Championship leader Valentino Rossi, seeking a 99th career win, was fourth fastest on a Yamaha while fellow Italian Marco Melandri will start on the third line of the grid despite suffering a spectacular fall in qualifying.

He was more fortunate than Spanish veteran Sete Gibernau who will not race at all after fracturing his left collarbone during the second session on Saturday morning.

"It is a real shame and it is very bad luck because Sete was already coming back from a shoulder injury and had been improving steadily," said team manager Pablo Nieto.

"Obviously what we do next will all hinge on how much time he needs to recover which could be longer than for a young rider. It is really tough for the whole team to accept, including for Sete himself of course, because we are all giving so much effort to this project."