Pedrosa on pole in final race of the season

Pedrosa set a new record at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, posting a lap clocked in at 1'30.844, with Yamaha Factory Racing’s World Champion Lorenzo jumping up into second with a final push on his last lap. Repsol Honda’s retiring Casey Stoner had looked like he was set to take pole for most of the session, but could not match the Spaniards at the end, also citing that he was not entirely happy with the new tarmac.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow finished as second best-placed Yamaha on the grid after posting the 4th fastest time in qualifying, giving him a good start in his bid for fifth place tomorrow. LCR Honda MotoGP's Stefan Bradl put in a good showing on his satellite machine to place himself in the middle of the second row in fifth.

Tech 3’s Andrea Dovizioso, who will contest his last race for the Yamaha satellite outfit from sixth, could do his teammate a big favour by holing off some of the riders behind, although he will himself no doubt be gunning for the podium. Nicky Hayden qualified as best Ducati in seventh spot on the grid, after carrying out a big amount of set-up work throughout the session.

He will be joined on the third row by San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, who was once again struggling with front-end issues on his Showa-equipped Honda RC213V.  Pramac Racing Team’s Héctor Barberá completes the third row, as he signs off from his team this weekend in what will be classed as a good grid spot.

Power Electronics Aspar’s Aleix Espargaró was the top CRT qualifier in tenth, which should help him in his quest to securing the CRT title tomorrow. Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi had a disappointing last qualifying session for the Italian outfit, as he finished down in 11^th.