Phillip Island MotoGP: Casey Stoner shrugs off wrist injury to take home pole

2007 MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has taken pole position at his home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, smashing the lap record in the process.

His best lap of 1.28.665 saw him smash the previous record by almost four tenths. Stoner’s amazing qualifying lap was needed to knock Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo off the top spot.

Soon-to-be Ducati rider Nicky Hayden qualified third on the grid after just missing out on the top spot when Lorenzo and Stoner upped the pace.

LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet had a good qualifying session and he starts from fourth position on the grid. De Puniet was the last rider to break the previous lap record, set by Nicky Hayden in 2006.

Britain’s James Toseland lines up fifth on the grid behind De Puniet, as he looks to improve on his recent results. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa completes the second row in sixth.

Former WSB champion Colin Edwards leads the third row ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano.

Newly-crowned champion Valentnio Rossi will start from 12th place on the grid after crashing and injuring his neck with 15 minutes of the session remaining.

1 C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1’28.665
2 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.069
3 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 0.091
4 R. DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP + 0.143
5 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.366
6 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 0.612
7 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 0.848
8 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 0.893
9 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.045
10 A. DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini + 1.260
11 L. CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1.277
12 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 1.349
13 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 1.537
14 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 1.632
15 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 1.880
16 J. HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.492
17 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 3.274
18 A. WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team + 3.330