Misano MotoGP: Casey Stoner takes pole for Misano GP

At today’s qualifying session Casey Stoner put in the fastest lap to earn pole position for tomorrow’s MotoGP showdown.

The seemingly unstoppable Aussie took pole today despite a wrist injury, putting a Ducati up front for the Italian GP and leaving Valentino Rossi to take second place on the grid for his home race tomorrow.

Rossi lapped Misano at 1’33.888, over half a second slower than Casey Stoner.

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo placed third, less than a tenth of a second slower than Rossi with a time of 1’33.964.

LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet placed fourth and Spaniard Toni Elias took 5th on his Alice Team Ducati.

British rider James Toseland took 9th today with a time of 1’34.652, 1.274 seconds slower than front runner Casy Stoner. Toseland’s Tech 3 Yamaha team mate Colin Edwards finished just behind in 10th place.

1  Casey STONER   AUS  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   1’33.378   
2  Valentino ROSSI  ITA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   1’33.888  
3  Jorge LORENZO   SPA  Fiat Yamaha Team   Yamaha   1’33.964  
4  Randy DE PUNIET  FRA  LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   1’34.236  
5  Toni ELIAS   SPA  Alice Team    Ducati   1’34.322  
6  Dani PEDROSA   SPA  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   1’34.398  
7  Chris VERMEULEN  AUS  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   1’34.461  
8  Shinya NAKANO   JPN  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   1’34.494  
9  James TOSELAND   GBR  Tech 3 Yamaha    Yamaha   1’34.652  
10  Colin EDWARDS   USA  Tech 3 Yamaha    Yamaha   1’34.795  
11  Loris CAPIROSSI  ITA  Rizla Suzuki MotoGP   Suzuki   1’34.926  
12  Sylvain GUINTOLI  FRA  Alice Team    Ducati   1’34.961  
13  Alex DE ANGELIS  RSM  San Carlo Honda Gresini  Honda   1’35.153  
14  Andrea DOVIZIOSO  ITA  JiR Team Scot MotoGP   Honda   1’35.381  
15  Marco MELANDRI   ITA  Ducati Marlboro Team   Ducati   1’35.418  
16  Nicky HAYDEN   USA  Repsol Honda Team   Honda   1’35.584  
17  John HOPKINS   USA  Kawasaki Racing Team   Kawasaki  1’35.980  
18  Anthony WEST   AUS  Kawasaki Racing Team   Kawasaki  1’37.047