Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi has praised his pit crew for getting the team's qualifying strategy exactly right in difficult conditions, despite getting pipped to the pole by Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

In a session that started soaking wet after a downpour during 125cc qualifying, the track began to dry so riders were faced with different conditions every time they went out.

“The conditions were incredible today and this practice was as much about strategy as it was about qualifying tyres and set-up, because you had to judge the right moment to go out with the right tyre," said The Doctor.

"We worked very well in our garage and managed to make the right decisions every time, so I was at the top or near to it for most of the session and able to constantly make big improvements.

"When I saw that I’d done a 2’01.9 I thought that I might have the pole, but Dani was even faster so congratulations to him today. Anyway it’s good to be back on the front row because we have been off it for two races, and now we’re in a good place to start our challenge tomorrow.

"I am really looking forward to the race because I love this track and my M1 is really flying here. However I hope the weather is ok because for sure it will be more fun in the dry!”