( CNN ) -- Italy 's Valentino Rossi gave his bid to seal a seventh Moto GP world title at the Malaysian Grand Prix a boost after qualifying for the race in pole position . The defending champion set a name lap-record time of 2 minutes 00.518 seconds despite sweltering conditions on Saturday . The time smashed Casey Stoner 's 2007 lap record of 2 minutes 02.108 seconds . The Yamaha rider celebrated his seventh pole of the season by pulling a wheelie as he drove into the pit lane at the Sepang circuit . The 5.5-kilometer track that is situated south of the capital Kuala Lumpur , is a notoriously tought test for rider and machine alike with its combination of tight corners , long straights and tough high-speed bends . The 30-year-old currently leads the world championship by 38 points , a position that means a top-four finish at Sepang would seal the title on Sunday . Rossi 's teammate Jorge Lorenzo qualified in second place , just 0.569sec behind -- a result that prompted Rossi to pay tribute to the hard work of his team . `` The team worked well , the bike performed well , hence I was able to go faster . `` Starting from pole is important since the ( first ) corner is far away , '' he added . Spaniard Dani Pedrosa ( Honda ) was 0.736sec behind Rossi while Australian Stoner was fourth at 0.937sec . Ducati rider Stoner , who finished ahead of Rossi in last weekend 's Australian Grand Prix to take the win , is third in the world championship standings , with Pedrosa fourth on a Honda .
Italy 's Valentino Rossi qualifies in pole position for the Malaysian Moto GP . The 30-year - old 's fastest time smashed the track record at the Malaysian circuit . Rossi currently leads the world championship by four points with two races left . The defending champion can clinch his seventh title with a top - four finish .