Stoner storms to home pole

Added on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Casey Stoner will start his home MotoGP race from Phillip Island from the prestigious pole position tomorrow, for the second year running.

After only returning to the series last time out, following a break due to illness, Stoner is hoping to make it a hat-trick of victories at his home Grand Prix, however championship leader Valentino Rossi will be eager to steal the triumph for himself.

Rossi secured second in what was a thrilling qualifying session, which saw the top spot switch between Stoner and Rossi as the session was drawing to a close, as each fought to the end to steal the prominent position – the gap ending up just 0.050 seconds between them, handing Rossi his ninth consecutive front-row start.

Another strong showing from Dani Pedrosa enabled him to take third on the grid ahead of tomorrow’s race, despite suffering a crash during the session. Rossi’s FIAT Yamaha teammate, and main championship rival, Jorge Lorenzo will start fourth tomorrow, keen to keep the championship battle alive. Lorenzo lost third to Pedrosa by just one thousandth of a second, denying him a front row start for the first time all season.

Colin Edwards will line up fifth tomorrow, with Alex De Angelis sixth. Nicky Hayden, Randy De Puniet, Mika Kallio and Andrea Dovizioso complete the line up for the top ten. Brit star James Toseland will line-up twelfth.

Phillip Island, Qualifying Report:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Lap time	Gap
1	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	1’30.341
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’30.391	0.050
3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	1’31.070	0.729
4	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’31.071	0.730
5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’31.096	0.755
6	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’31.260	0.919
7	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	1’31.325	0.984
8	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	1’31.380	1.039
9	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	1’31.384	1.043
10	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	1’31.472	1.131
11	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’31.640	1.299
12	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’31.722	1.381
13	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’31.873	1.532
14	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	1’32.190	1.849
15	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’32.338	1.997
16	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	1’32.752	2.411
Not classified
	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing		Lap