PARIS, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Rookie sensation Dani Pedrosa secured a brilliant pole position in the final seconds of qualifying for the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

    The Repsol Honda rider won just his fourth MotoGP race in Chinalast weekend and followed that triumph with a stunning late show in France.

    His lap of one minute 33.990 seconds came at the very end of the session and denied Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano a shock pole position.

    Pedrosa's late effort also robbed Bridgestone of a clean sweep of the top three after an impressive qualifying session.

    Second-placed Nakano was the lead Bridgestone runner after the Japanese tyre giants had the edge on Michelin over one lap, with John Hopkins' Suzuki completing the front row. The other Kawasaki of home favourite Randy de Puniet starts fourth.

    Bridgestone's form ensured an unusual look to the front of the grid and helped push reigning champion Valentino Rossi down to seventh on his Camel Yamaha.

    Rossi has suffered his worst start to a season since his rookie campaign in 2000 but he has shown steady improvement this weekend and is well placed to cut the gap on championship leader Nicky Hayden.

    The Repsol Honda rider has been suffering with illness all weekend and starts down in 10th place, almost a second slower than team-mate Pedrosa.

    Hayden's championship rival Marco Melandri enjoyed a more productive session and earned fifth spot on his Fortuna Honda, one place clear of another championship hopeful, Marlboro Ducati's Loris Capirossi. Enditem