Mother Nature Gives Rossi The Pole

This morning's Free Practice 2 was greeted by solid rain and journeyman racer, Colin Edwards posted the fastest time on wets, beating Rossi by .052 seconds. The heavy rain forced cancellation of all afternoon qualifying sessions, with the grid being determined by the Free Practice sessions. That puts Rossi on pole, with Stoner and Lorenzo joining him on the front row. Second row will be Vermeulen, Edwards and Capirossi. This rather insignificant turn of events may actually give Rossi the needed psychological boost that he needs to take on Stoner. Anyone in the front row can get the holeshot, but considering Rossi's renewed frame of mind and the fact that he won the 2008 championship here only six months ago, assuming they keep the rubber on the road, I'm going to predict a very close battle between Vale and Casey, with Rossi taking the win. I also see potential for a battle for third between Lorenzo and Edwards, with the edge going to Lorenzo. If it rains, Edwards could take away second from Stoner ... but then again, in the rain, many of the fastest riders lose the front end so who knows what will happen.