Rossi kept the pressure on championship leader Stoner

Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet claimed a career-best second place, with Dani Pedrosa third and championship leader Casey Stoner fourth fastest.

Rossi, aiming for a fourth successive Barcelona win, set the time of one minute 41.840 secs on his first lap.

The Yamaha rider's time beat his own record for the circuit, 1:41.855, which he set last year.

Kawasaki rider Olivier Jacque's frustrating season continued after he was ruled out for the weekend following a crash in free practice.

The 33-year-old, who missed the Chinese and French grands prix because of an arm injury and crashed on the opening lap in Turkey, was taken to hospital for precautionary tests.

Rossi was happy to be starting at the front, even though no pole starters this season have gone on to win the race.

"It's always a great satisfaction to get the pole position but I know the race will be very tough," he said.

"There is an extra motivation for Dani because he is in front of his home crowd and I'm sure it will be a great battle."

Barcelona MotoGP qualifying result (Sat):

1 V Rossi (It) Yamaha 1:41.840
2 R de Puniet (Fr) Kawasaki 1:41.901
3 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 1:42.002
4 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 1:42.117
5 J Hopkins (US) Suzuki 1:42.233
6 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 1:42.283
7 N Hayden (US) Honda 1:42.522
8 T Elias (Sp) Honda 1:42.607
9 M Melandri (It) Honda 1:42.623
10 A Hoffman (Ger) Ducati 1:42.860