Rossi is the championship leader

Former world champion Valentino Rossi has put his Yamaha on pole for Sunday's Turkish MotoGP in Istanbul.

The Italian clocked one minute 52.795 seconds to finish 0.149secs ahead of US team-mate Colin Edwards.

Spain's Dani Pedrosa was third quickest for Honda (1:52.971) and Casey Stoner was fourth on a Ducati (1:53.375).

Rossi leads the championship standings by nine points from Stoner after winning the Spanish MotoGP, with reigning champion Nicky Hayden sixth.

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Leading qualifying positions:
1 Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 1min 52.795secs
2 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:52.944
3 Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 1:52.971
4 Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 1:53.375
5 Loris Capirossi (Ita) Ducati 1:53.559
6 Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1:53.613
7 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 1:53.637
8 Randy De Puniet (Fra) Kawasaki 1:53.706
9 Chris Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 1:53.771
10 Toni Elias (Spa) Honda 1:53.835