AFP - Italian motorcycling maestro Valentino Rossi grabbed a last-gasp pole position for the San Marino Grand Prix here on Saturday.

The eight-time world champion claimed the 57th pole of his career by just 0.222sec on Spanish Honda rider Dani Pedrosa with Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo third at 0.470.

The Italian was fastest in every session so far this weekend and his final 1min 34.338sec lap put him in pole position for the sixth time this season.

The duel was tight over the 60-minute session and it had looked as if Pedrosa had snatched pole only for Rossi to deny the Spaniard in the closing seconds.

"The track was more slippery than this morning but the team did a fantastic job changing my tyre in a time worthy of a Formula One mechanic," said Rossi, who is desperate to impress at home this weekend after crashing out at Indianapolis last Sunday.

"The race is tomorrow and I hope to see crowds in the stands at Misano," said Rossi, winner here last year.

With former world champion Casey Stoner still out with a mystery virus, Pedrosa is hopeful of moving up to third from fourth in the overall standings this weekend.

"It's important to be in second position on this circuit but we have to improve," admitted the Spaniard.

Lorenzo, second in the standings 25 points behind Rossi, was very disappointed in his performance, but is hopeful of improving on last year's second place here.

"Tomorrow, physical form will count for a lot. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to put on a soft tyre but we'll be ready for the race," he warned.