Valentino Rossi survived a late crash during qualifying at the Cardion ab Czech Republic Grand Prix (16 August 2009) to take his fifth pole position of the 2009 season, in clear and sunny conditions at the undulating Brno track. At one of his favorite venues on the calendar Rossi took his Yamaha M1 bike round the circuit in 1’56.145 on the 21st of his 23 laps after a battle for supremacy with his team-mate and closest World Championship rival Jorge Lorenzo – who trails him by 25 points in the standings and was 0.05s behind Rossi this session.

(more…)