Spanish sensation Dani Pedrosa claimed the first pole of his MotoGP career on Saturday, clocking 1min 59.009sec on his Honda in a rain-interrupted qualifying session for the Shanghai Grand Prix.
American John Hopkins on a Suzuki claimed second position on the grid for Sunday's race at the Shanghai International Circuit, with countryman Colin Edwards on a Yamaha claiming third.
World champion Valentino Rossi, who has had a troubled start to the season and is languishing in fifth place in the championship standings, qualified a disappointing 13th after recording the fastest times in practice on Friday.
For 20-year-old Pedrosa, Saturday's performance reinforced his status as one of the sport's most exciting new talents as he mastered the tricky 5.28-kilometre (3.28-mile) track in the difficult conditions.
With more than 20 minutes in the middle of the hour-long qualifying session lost to rain, Pedrosa returned to the track with blistering pace while many of his more experienced rivals struggled to cope with the interruption.
Pedrosa saved his fastest performance for his last lap of the session, after an eventful final few minutes in which Hopkins, Edwards and Japan's Shinya Nakano all enjoyed brief moments of recording the fastest times.
Pedrosa is enjoying a wonderful debut season in the MotoGP after winning the 250cc class in 2004 and 2005, and is currently sixth in the championship standings.
"I'm very happy to be in the front row ... this is more than expected," Pedrosa told reporters afterwards.
However Pedrosa barely raised a smile in the press conference, giving the impression that pole means very little to him if it is not accompanied by victory on Sunday.
"I have to focus on tomorrow and have a great day," he said.
Fellow 20-year-old Casey Stoner, who has also lit up season 2006 with some brilliant riding and is currently fourth in the standings, had a more mixed day after crashing on his sixth lap of the session.
The young Australian tumbled over the top of his Honda on the bend coming into the home straight and rolled heavily into the gravel on the side of the track.
His crash occurred just as the showers started to fall, but he returned strongly after the rain interruption on his second bike to claim seventh position on the grid for Sunday.
Meanwhile, Rossi was left to lament his continued troubled season that his Yamaha team have largely put down to technical problems with his M1 bike.
Rossi appeared upbeat after recording the fastest times in practice during very wet conditions on Friday, saying he was confident problems with the rear suspension of his bike had finally been ironed out.
But Saturday's effort will no doubt give his Yamaha team and legion of fans plenty more to worry about.
In the 250cc class, Spanish duo Hector Barbera and Jorge Lorenzo will line up one-two on the starting grid, with Shushei Aoyama of Japan posting the third fastest time of qualifying.
Finland's Mika Kallio claimed pole on his KTM in the 125cc, with Lukas Pesek of the Czech Republic taking second spot on the grid and Spain's Julian Simon third.
