Aragon MotoGP: Stoner storms to pole despite crash

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner starts from pole for tomorrow’s race at the Motorland Aragon circuit despite crashing his number one bike.

Stoner had just set his best lap of the session with 15 minutes to go when he had to lay his bike down in the gravel to avoid hitting the wall. This unfazed the Aussie, who went straight out on his spare bike and improved his lap time.

Team-mate Dani Pedrosa was unable to better Stoner and had to settle for second spot. Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies completes the front row in third.

Current champion Jorge Lorenzo heads the second row in fourth, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli. Nicky Hayden is the top Ducati in seventh, ahead of Karel Abraha, and Hiroshi Aoyama.

Despite using the new aluminium chassis Valentino Rossi struggled during qualifying and with just over 40 minutes remaining crashed coming out of the penultimate corner. Rossi remounted to set the 13th fastest time, behind Brit Cal Crutchlow in 12th.

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 320.3 1’48.451 
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 318.1 1’48.747 0.296 / 0.296
3 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 311.9 1’49.155 0.704 / 0.408
4 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 313.2 1’49.270 0.819 / 0.115
5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 317.7 1’49.372 0.921 / 0.102
6 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 314.2 1’49.528 1.077 / 0.156
7 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 316.7 1’49.752 1.301 / 0.224
8 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 316.3 1’49.777 1.326 / 0.025
9 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 317.8 1’49.813 1.362 / 0.036
10 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 313.9 1’49.826 1.375 / 0.013
11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 320.3 1’49.883 1.432 / 0.057
12 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 310.5 1’49.893 1.442 / 0.010
13 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 315.5 1’49.960 1.509 / 0.067
14 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 321.0 1’49.976 1.525 / 0.016
15 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 310.8 1’50.105 1.654 / 0.129
16 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 313.6 1’50.752 2.301 / 0.647
17 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 317.6 1’51.073 2.622 / 0.321