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VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Valentino Rossi steered his Yamaha to his 50th career pole position in MotoGP and the first since 2010 at the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Saturday.
Rossi was followed by fellow Italian Andrea Iannone, with Dani Pedrosa clocking the third fastest lap at the 4-kilometer (2.4-mile) harbor-side circuit.
Already crowned two-time world champion Marc Marquez fell during the session but was unhurt. He will start Sunday's race from fifth on the grid, right behind Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
It was Rossi's first pole since Le Mans in 2010.
"Fifty in MotoGP, that's a lot of poles" said Rossi. "It was a great surprise today. I wasn't expecting pole. I usually prefer the race to qualifying, Valencia is also usually quite a tough track for me."
The former seven-time MotoGP champion is currently 12 points ahead of Lorenzo in the fight to finish second in the points standings.
In Moto2, champion Esteve Rabat took pole position ahead of Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli.
In Moto3, Marc's younger brother Alex Marquez needs to protect his 11-point lead ahead of Australia's Jack Miller when the two vie for the title in the lowest category.
Alex Marquez will start from third on the grid right behind Miller after Italian Niccolo Antonelli took the pole position.
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