Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa blitzed the last remaining 990cc MotoGP lap record to take pole position at Valencia this afternoon with new champion Jorge Lorenzo second and team-mate Casey Stoner in third.
Pedrosa's 1'30.884 beat the 1'31.002 set by Valentino Rossi set back in 2006 on the RC211V while Lorenzo, who was losing as much as a quarter of a second in the final sector, mustered a 1'31.195 with his last lap the session.
It was only ever a three-way fight for top spot with Stoner having to settle for the outside of the front row in his final ever Grand Prix but Britain's Cal Crutchlow made sure his presence was felt, putting the Monster Yamaha in second place with 12 minutes left.
The Isle of Man resident was on course for a provisional pole but the combination a lack of acceleration and Ben Spies' replacement Kats Nakasuga holding him up in the last two corners meant he slipped back to the top of row two.
LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl, who has raced at Valencia five times and not finished five times, ended in fifth after being at the sharp end early on with the second Monster Yamaha of Andrea Dovizioso behind him.
Nicky Hayden was the best of the Ducatis in seventh but a massive 1.6s off the pace. He was chased by Alvaro Bautista and Hector Barbera.
Valentino Rossi suffered the ignominy of not only being the slowest of the Bologna bikes but was also outqualified by the CRT of Aleix Espargaro. The Doctor finished in 11th place and two full seconds off the pace. Randy De Puniet and Colin Edwards were next CRT men along with Britain's James Ellison down in 20th.
