Stoner opens season with pole
Added on Saturday, March 19th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner opens season with pole
Casey Stoner will kick start his 2011 MotoGP season from pole position at Qatar this weekend, with the season finally getting into gear.
Having just achieved his 27th career pole position, Stoner out qualified Dani Pedrosa, with the Spaniard the only rider who could compete with Stoner’s pace. Pedrosa managed to steal provisional pole position during the session, however he couldn’t hold onto it by the end.
Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will complete the line-up on the front row for tomorrow’s race, setting the third fastest qualifying time. The second row will be headed up by Marco Simoncelli, with Ben Spies and Hector Barbera alongside.
Andrea Dovizioso will start from seventh place in tomorrow’s season opener, with Cal Crutchlow eighth, and Valentino Rossi, on his Ducati debut, ninth. The final spot in the top ten was awarded to Colin Edwards.
Having only held seven MotoGP events, Qatar always puts on a good show, and tomorrow’s season opener will likely be no different. Testing and practice times leaves something to the imagination, but we will know who is on the pace by tomorrow evening.
Unfortunately Alvaro Bautista suffered an accidentt and so won’t be lining up on the grid tomorrow, reducing the field to just 16 riders.
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 324.3 | 1’54.137 | |
| 2 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 326.6 | 1’54.342 | 0.205 / 0.205 |
| 3 | 1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 321.2 | 1’54.947 | 0.810 / 0.605 |
| 4 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 324.0 | 1’54.988 | 0.851 / 0.041 |
| 5 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 319.1 | 1’55.095 | 0.958 / 0.107 |
| 6 | 8 | Hector BARBERA | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 329.8 | 1’55.223 | 1.086 / 0.128 |
| 7 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 324.2 | 1’55.229 | 1.092 / 0.006 |
| 8 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 321.9 | 1’55.578 | 1.441 / 0.349 |
| 9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 324.1 | 1’55.637 | 1.500 / 0.059 |
| 10 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 320.5 | 1’55.647 | 1.510 / 0.010 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 322.8 | 1’55.656 | 1.519 / 0.009 |
| 12 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 326.1 | 1’55.724 | 1.587 / 0.068 |
| 13 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 323.5 | 1’55.881 | 1.744 / 0.157 |
| 14 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 319.1 | 1’56.323 | 2.186 / 0.442 |
| 15 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 326.2 | 1’56.665 | 2.528 / 0.342 |
| 16 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 324.1 | 1’57.992 | 3.855 / 1.327 |
| 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki |
