Dani Pedrosa will start from pole psotion in the final MotoGP race of the 2011 season at Malaysia.
After a close fight with team-mates Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa grabbed the top spot, despite a fall at the final corner 12 minutes into the session.
The Spaniard returned to the track, and by the 38th minute of the hour session was back at the top.
Dovizioso and newly-crowned Champion Stoner both threw down the challenge, lapping faster than Pedrosa until the last few runs of the session where Pedrosa scored a 2m01.46s – enough for pole.
Behind the Hondo trio, Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) was impressive, edging out Marco Simonchelli (Gresini Honda), Nicky Hayden (Ducati), Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini Honda) and Alvaro Bautista (Suziki).
Ducati’s Valentino Rossi will line-up ninth after a fall. He jumped onto his spare bike, beating the second Tech 3 Yamaha of Cal Crutchlow.
See below for qualifying results from the Malaysian Grand Prix.
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 315.3 | 2’01.462 | |
| 2 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 315.6 | 2’01.491 | 0.029 / 0.029 |
| 3 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 313.0 | 2’01.666 | 0.204 / 0.175 |
| 4 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 308.9 | 2’02.010 | 0.548 / 0.344 |
| 5 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 309.0 | 2’02.105 | 0.643 / 0.095 |
| 6 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 311.3 | 2’02.172 | 0.710 / 0.067 |
| 7 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 312.7 | 2’02.254 | 0.792 / 0.082 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 312.2 | 2’02.332 | 0.870 / 0.078 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 307.5 | 2’02.395 | 0.933 / 0.063 |
| 10 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 307.9 | 2’02.756 | 1.294 / 0.361 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 308.2 | 2’02.939 | 1.477 / 0.183 |
| 12 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 307.9 | 2’03.077 | 1.615 / 0.138 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 310.7 | 2’03.438 | 1.976 / 0.361 |
| 14 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 310.8 | 2’03.619 | 2.157 / 0.181 |
| 15 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 311.3 | 2’03.646 | 2.184 / 0.027 |
| 16 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 305.6 | 2’03.678 | 2.216 / 0.032 |
| 17 | 89 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | JPN | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 302.7 | 2’04.072 | 2.610 / 0.394 |
