Rossi pole as Michelin men march forward.

After a Bridgestone dominated opening day, Valentino Rossi led an all-Michelin front row during qualifying for Sunday's Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park.

World championship leader Rossi had been one of only two Michelin riders in the top ten during Friday practice, but the special one-lap rubber helped turn the tables and the former five-times MotoGP champion took his 37th premier-class pole by 0.149secs from Fiat Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards.

Edwards' speed was one of the surprises of the afternoon; the Texan leaping from 14th to third with eight-minutes to go then spearing a close second on his very final lap. Rossi, 0.8secs clear of the field with just four-minutes remaining, had sat back and watched his lap time go undefeated, but must have been worried when he saw Dani Pedrosa on pole position pace in the dying seconds.

But the Repsol Honda rider then got caught behind Rizla Suzuki's John Hopkins, himself on a fast lap, and was repeatedly unable to pass the Anglo-American. Nevertheless, the Spaniard will start third on the grid after still lapping within 0.176secs of pole.

A significant 0.4secs then separated Pedrosa from top Bridgestone rider Casey Stoner - the young Australian, fastest on Friday and Saturday morning, was unable to continue his form on the super-sticky tyres, but is more than happy with his race set-up.

Stoner will be joined on row two by Ducati Marlboro team-mate Loris Capirossi, eager to restart his season after two poor races, and world champion Nicky Hayden. Hayden, like Edwards, made a giant leap forward at the end of the session – in Nicky's case from 19th and last with just ten minutes remaining. However, significant questions remain about the Repsol Honda rider's potential over a full race distance.

Hopkins will head row three ahead of Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet and the second Rizla Suzuki of Chris Vermeulen, while Toni Elias also lost out in qualifying and slipped to tenth on his Bridgestone-shod Gresini Honda. But spare a thought for his team-mate Marco Melandri; the Italian has never lost at Istanbul park, but will start the 2007 event from just 14th position. Melandri, like fellow RC212V riders Hayden and Nakano, is still struggling badly with the front end of his machine.

Kenny Roberts also faired poorly, the American clocking 18th to start ahead of only class rookie Sylvain Guintoli.

Qualifying:

1. Rossi
2. Edwards
3. Pedrosa
4. Stoner
5. Capirossi
6. Hayden
7. Hopkins
8. de Puniet
9. Vermeulen
10. Elias
11. Jacque
12. Nakano
13. Barros
14. Melandri
15. Tamada
16. Checa
17. Hofmann
18. Roberts
19. Guintoli

Crash