Moto GP Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa rides his Honda during the third and last free practice session at the Czech Republic’s Grand Prix in Moto GP in Brno, Czech Republic

AFP/PragueSpanish Honda rider Dani Pedrosa clinched his first pole position of the season with the fastest time in qualifying here yesterday for today’s Czech Grand Prix. The 25-year-old, who had dominated both free practice sessions on Friday, clocked 1min 56.591sec to edge out Yamaha’s defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain by 0.113sec. Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda teammate Casey Stoner of Australia, the world championship leader, came in third after topping the last free practice yesterday morning on a wet track that had dried by the qualifying session. Pedrosa’s performance comes on the back of winning the German MotoGP last month, completing a stunning comeback after he broke his right collarbone in the French MotoGp in May which saw him miss three races and ruin his chances of winning the world title. US rider Ben Spies of Yamaha came in fourth ahead of Italy’s Marco Simoncelli on a Honda and another Italian Valentino Rossi on a Ducati, who has won five MotoGP races in Brno. The slippery morning practice turned the Brno trip into a nightmare for John Hopkins, a US superbike rider hired by the Rizla Suzuki team just for this race. Hopkins crashed and broke a finger, which ruled him out of the qualifying session. Stoner crashed early into the morning practice but then recovered to dominate the session, while Britain’s Cal Crutchlow and Czech Karel Abraham both crashed in the qualifying practice. In Moto2, Spain’s Marc Marquez on a Suter claimed pole position in 2min 02.493sec ahead of championships leader Stefan Bradl of Germany on a Kalex and Italy’s Alex De Angelis on a Motobi. The 125cc championship leader, Nicolas Terol of Spain on an Aprilia, secured the front post on the grid in 2min 08.118sec, ahead of France’s Johann Zarco on a Derbi and German rider Sandro Cortese on an Aprilia.