Stoner steals Oz GP pole with new lap record; Rossi crashes to 12th on grid

Casey Stoner stormed to an authoritative pole position today in a fast and furious qualifying session that saw no less than five riders decimating the 1:29.02 outright lap record for the Phillip Island circuit set by Pedrosa in last year’s qualifying.

Stoner’s last-minute hot lap of 1:28.665 came after successive lap records from Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden, Randy de Puniet and a jubilant James Toseland - and rounded out a weekend in which Stoner has been fastest in every session.

Stoner’s only real race-day competitor in recent races, world champ Valentino Rossi, is facing a difficult battle to the front tomorrow from 12th on the grid. With 15 minutes to go in QP, Rossi ran wide into the grass on the fast exit of turn 2 while on a fast lap that should have boosted him to the top of the table. The M1 barely slowed before hitting a gravel trap and dumping Rossi violently on his side.

Despite a sore neck, Rossi attempted another couple of laps before the session finished, but wasn’t able to get out in time for a shot at a fast lap. “I was pushing a lot with the qualifying tyre but unfortunately I went too wide at turn two and I came onto the grass on the exit,” Rossi explained afterwards. “I thought I could take the bike back onto the track but, as soon as I touched the muddy grass I lost control and I couldn’t stop it. Then I bumped my head and neck pretty hard when I landed in the gravel. It’s a pity that I will have to start from twelfth tomorrow, because this afternoon, with my Bridgestone race tyres, I had a very good pace.

Stoner is now red-hot favourite to take a pole-to-post runaway victory in tomorrow’s race, breaking Rossi’s streak of five consecutive wins.

The top placed Suzuki was Loris Capirossi in eleventh -  behind every entry from the seemingly resurgent Repsol, Gresini and LCR Honda teams. Kawasaki fared worse again with an embarrassing last and third-last, Aussie Ant West’s best time only a tenth of a second faster than Simoncelli’s pole position qualifying lap in the 250cc class.

Final qualifying times:

1 Casey Stoner 1:28.665
2 Jorge Lorenzo +0.069
3 Nicky Hayden +0.091
4 Randy de Puniet +0.143
5 James Toseland + 0.366
6 Dani Pedrosa +0.612
7 Colin Edwards +0.848
8 Andrea Dovizioso +0.893
9 Shinya Nakano +1.045
10 Alex de Angelis +1.260
11 Loris Capirossi +1.277
12 Valentino Rossi +1.349
13 Toni Elias +1.537
14 Sylvain Guintoli +1.632
15 Chris Vermeulen +1.880
16 John Hopkins +2.492
17 Marco Melandri +3.274
18 Anthony West +3.330

Photo: www.motogp.com