Motegi MotoGP: Stoner secures tenth pole of season

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) has secured his tenth pole position start of the season at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan with a time of 1’45.267 – 0.02 seconds faster then Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) who will start from second.

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso will complete the front row, qualifying in third after setting a lap of 1’45.791 and demoting team mate Dani Pedrosa to fourth by less than 0.02 seconds.

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Ben Spies follows Pedrosa, starting from fifth on the grid having fought off food poisoning that forced the American rider to retire from the second practice session after five laps. Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) completes the second row on the grid in sixth, setting his fastest lap after returning to the track following a fall at turn five halfway through the session.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) qualified in seventh place, setting a best lap that was just over one second slower than Stoner’s best. Spaniards Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) complete the third row in eighth and ninth.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) qualified in tenth, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) in eleventh.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), on his first visit to the Japanese circuit, qualified in twelfth two places ahead of team mate Colin Edwards who fell in the gravel in the first 15 minutes, but was able to rejoin the session.

1. Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 295.6 1’45.267 
2. Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 287.8 1’45.523
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 293.8 1’45.791 
4. Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 292.0 1’45.966 
5. Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 292.4 1’46.042 
6. Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 292.4 1’46.211 
7. Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 290.9 1’46.467 
8. Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 288.5 1’46.586 
9. Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 287.5 1’46.694 
10. Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 289.5 1’46.763
11. Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 290.2 1’46.811 
12. Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 281.9 1’46.818
13. Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 285.5 1’46.917 
14. Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 289.3 1’47.165 
15. Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 284.7 1’47.922 
16. Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 289.2 1’48.169
17. Kousuke AKIYOSHI JPN LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 286.5 1’48.367
18. Damian CUDLIN AUS Pramac Racing Team Ducati 275.0 1’48.962
19. Shinichi ITO JPN Honda Racing Team Honda 286.8 1’49.971