Spain’s Dani Pedrosa took pole position on Saturday for Sunday’s San Marino MotoGP Grand Prix to boost his outside hopes of the title.

The Honda rider, also quickest in Friday’s first practice session on Italy’s east coast, topped the timesheets again with a lap of one minute 33,948 seconds in qualifying ahead of championship leader and compatriot Jorge Lorenzo.

Ducati’s Casey Stoner will start third on the grid on Sunday in front of colourful world champion Valentino Rossi, who wore a helmet with an alarm clock design to show he felt it was time he stepped up after his recovery from a broken leg.

Rossi has won at his home track for the last two years.

Yamaha’s runaway leader Lorenzo heads second-placed Pedrosa by 68 points in the overall standings with five races left.