Pedrosa takes MotoGP pole at Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -Dani Pedrosa of Spain has won the pole for the Indianapolis MotoGP race with a qualifying lap of 1 minute, 39.730 seconds.

Jorge Lorenzo of Spain was second in Saturday's qualifying with a 1:40.236. Valentino Rossi of Italy, the defending race winner and points leader, was third in 1:40.609.

Pedrosa's best lap was more than one second faster than Rossi's pole-winning time of 1:40.776 in 2008.

Speeds improved dramatically in better conditions on Indy's 2.621-mile road course.

But Pedrosa remained the fastest after posting the best times in both practice sessions. It's the second pole of the season for the Repsol Honda driver.

Colin Edwards was the top American qualifier at 1:40.961. He will start fifth in Sunday's race.