Pedrosa on pole for Czech MotoGP

Dani Pedrosa claims his third pole position of the season with championship leader Jorge Lorenzo third.

Dani Pedrosa is currently second in the championship.

BRNO, CZECH REPUBLIC // Dani Pedrosa claimed his third pole position of the season in MotoGP qualifying for the Czech Grand Prix. The Spanish Honda rider, who also dominated the practice session earlier in the day, covered the 5.403km (3.358-mile) Brno circuit in 1min 56.508sec today. Ben Spies of the United States, riding a Yamaha, was briefly heading for pole before finishing second, 0.338sec behind in his best qualifying MotoGP result. World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo of Spain was third, 0.357sec back.

Lorenzo and the defending MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi had crashed at the end of the one-hour qualifying session but escaped unhurt. Lorenzo leads the MotoGP championship standings with 210 points, followed by Pedrosa with 138 and Andrea Dovizioso of Italy on 115. Casey Stoner Of Australia was fourth in 1:56.868, while Rossi, who is still recovering from a broken leg, was fifth in 1:57.059. Rossi has won the MotoGP races at Brno in the past two years.

Shoya Tomizawa of Japan, riding a Suter, was fastest in the Moto2 category, formerly the 250cc, in 2:03.452. In the 125cc category, Britain's Bradley Smith on an Aprilia took his first pole of the season in 2:07.146. * AP