Dani Pedrosa has broken the Valencian lap record to take a stunning pole position for the final MotoGP race of the 2012 season.
The Repsol Honda rider set a 1:30.84s, beating his season-long rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner by nearly half a second.
Stoner, in the final MotoGP race of his career before retiring, held the top spot in the critical final 10 minutes, only to be overcome by Lorenzo.
Stoner came back out onto the circuit and returned to the top of the time sheets, only for Pedrosa to blow both of their times away with his pole lap.
Lorenzo’s final tour edged him back in front of Stoner, but was no where near the blistering Pedrosa.
Cal Crutchlow will start fourth, ahead of Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso
Rounding out the top 10 is Ducati rider Nicky Hayden, Alvaro Bautista, Hector Barbera and Aleix Espargaro – the first of the CRT entries.
The race will be held tomorrow, with wet weather predicted to play a part in the event.
Qualifying, Valencia
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 326.4 | 1’30.844 | |
| 2 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 321.4 | 1’31.195 | 0.351 / 0.351 |
| 3 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 322.9 | 1’31.428 | 0.584 / 0.233 |
| 4 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 321.4 | 1’31.512 | 0.668 / 0.084 |
| 5 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 324.8 | 1’31.757 | 0.913 / 0.245 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 321.6 | 1’31.795 | 0.951 / 0.038 |
| 7 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 320.7 | 1’32.503 | 1.659 / 0.708 |
| 8 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 323.5 | 1’32.585 | 1.741 / 0.082 |
| 9 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 327.0 | 1’32.605 | 1.761 / 0.020 |
| 10 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 305.7 | 1’32.834 | 1.990 / 0.229 |
| 11 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 319.6 | 1’32.877 | 2.033 / 0.043 |
| 12 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 306.4 | 1’33.346 | 2.502 / 0.469 |
| 13 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 320.3 | 1’33.442 | 2.598 / 0.096 |
| 14 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 309.3 | 1’33.453 | 2.609 / 0.011 |
| 15 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 303.8 | 1’33.971 | 3.127 / 0.518 |
| 16 | 21 | Katsuyuki NAKASUGA | JPN | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 315.9 | 1’33.979 | 3.135 / 0.008 |
| 17 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda-Suter | 300.0 | 1’33.980 | 3.136 / 0.001 |
| 18 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 300.9 | 1’34.407 | 3.563 / 0.427 |
| 19 | 84 | Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 303.9 | 1’34.866 | 4.022 / 0.459 |
| 20 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 304.6 | 1’34.918 | 4.074 / 0.052 |
| 21 | 73 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 309.1 | 1’35.363 | 4.519 / 0.445 |
| 22 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | Avintia Blusens | Inmotec | 300.0 | 1’36.531 | 5.687 / 1.168 |
