Birthday boy Casey Stoner surges to home pole position

Casey Stoner’s bid for a fourth successive home victory at Phillip Island received a massive boost today, the factory Ducati rider storming to only his third pole position of 2010.

The Aussie, who celebrated his 25th birthday today, was in control for large parts of the session run in dry but cool and blustery conditions to claim his third straight pole position at the spectacular Phillip Island circuit.

The 24-year-old secured his first pole since the Motorland Aragon race with a blistering performance in the final ten minutes,

He seized control back from new world champion Jorge Lorenzo with just under ten minutes remaining, a lap of 1.30.281 putting him 0.494s clear of the Spaniard.
The factory Ducati rider though wasn’t finished and he extended his advantage to a commanding 0.668s with a stunning lap of 1.30.107 just before rain started to fall in the final two minutes.

Lorenzo’s best lap of 1.30.775 easily secured him his second position with American Ben Spies a further 0.611s in third spot.

The Texan secured only his third front row start with a lap of 1.31.386. The former World Superbike champion was never outside of the top three once he first moved to the top of the timesheets with only 19 minutes completed.

A lap of 1.31.387 put him on top and he went marginally quicker to secure his first front row since he was on pole position for his home race in Indianapolis in late August.

Marco Simoncelli was a big surprise, the Italian claiming a brilliant fourth having never previously qualified on the front row in his MotoGP career.

He set a best time of 1.31.402 on the San Carlo Gresini Honda to finish just 0.013s clear of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards.

The veteran Texan equalled his best qualifying result with a 1.31.415 putting him ahead of compatriot Nicky Hayden by just 0.115s.

Hayden’s hopes of a second successive front row start though were dashed when he crashed unhurt at turn four with five minutes remaining. He’d logged a best time of 1.31.530 and will start sixth.

Valentino Rossi faces a tough 27-lap race after he could only qualify his Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1 in a lowly eighth.

The Italian finds himself on the third row for the third time in the last six races with a 1.31.627 leaving him 1.520s behind Stoner.

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa faces an even tougher challenge after he could only qualify his Repsol Honda in 15th place. The 25-year-old bravely opted to return to action in Australia just two weeks after badly breaking his left collarbone in a heavy practice crash at the Twin Ring Motegi.

Clearly struggling for confidence, Pedrosa set a best time of 1.33.384 to finish 3.277s behind Stoner.

Loris Capirossi and Hector Barbera were both lucky to escape injury after heavy crashes that left them well down the rankings.

Factory Suzuki rider Capirossi was last in 17th place with a best of 1.34.269 that left him a miserable 4.162s behind Stoner.

Barbera was only one place higher up with a lap of 1.33.390.