Casey Stoner takes pole for Qatar MotoGP

Mar 20 2011 by Zoe Burn, Sunday Sun

CASEY STONER started how he means to go on this season after cruising to pole at Qatar last night.

The Aussie, who has been the clear title favourite since jumping on board the factory Repsol Honda, made it look easy as he scorched to the top spot with a hot lap of 1.54.137mins under the floodlights of the Losail circuit.

As he took his 27th career pole, the 2008 champ admitted he had hoped to go even faster, but had not been able to get as much grip from soft tyres.

“We have taken small steps in every session, the team have done a fantastic job and it gives us a lot of confidence,” he said.

“I’m happy we’ve been able to do consistent 54.8 laps, but we had thought we might be able to get a little bit more out of the soft tyres. We struggled to get them working as well as we would like, but we did enough to get to the front.

“I’m pleased because there’s no better way to start the season and now we have to just look forward from here and do what we can in the race.”

While Stoner dominated most of the one-hour session, team-mate Dani Pedrosa was close behind, the Spaniard qualifying alongside him in second spot.

His pace was never on a par with Stoner’s, but for Pedrosa the result comes as his best qualifying spot at the Losail track.

“It’s my first time on the front row at this track, which is what I was looking for,” he said. “This is good for me because I usually get third row, so I am happy about this.

“Our times are fast and we have to focus on the race and hope we can bring home a good result. The bike is working great and I will try my best to do well in the race.”

The third and final front row spot went to reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo, back once again on the factory Yamaha.

Although it had looked like he would be out qualified by team-mate Ben Spies, the Spanish star pulled the pin when he had to and fought off a charge by the San Carlo Honda Gresini of Marco Simoncelli to keep himself on the front row.

“The track was better than it normally is here so the lap times for everyone have improved. We made the maximum and I am very proud of our lap time and our work.

“If someone had told me I would make a 54.9 one week ago I would not believe them but now we have a front row and I am looking for the podium. We will be going for it.”

Simoncelli will lead the second row ahead of Spies, with the Mapfre Aspar Team Ducati of Hector Barbera sixth, and once again the highest placed Ducati.

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow, the only Brit on the grid this season, shrugged off injury to cross the line eighth fastest, one spot higher than Valentino Rossi in his first race for the factory Ducati squad. Both Rossi and the Brit have had shoulder injuries and surgery during the off-season, but Crutchlow has the added handicap of having lost the tip of his finger in a testing crash last week.

MotoGP of Qatar top 10 qualifying positions: 1. Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda Team1:54.137, 2. Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Tea +0.205, 3. Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing+0.810, 4.Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini+0.851, 5. Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing+0.958, 6. Hector Barbera, Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP+1.086, 7. Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda Team+1.092, 8. Cal Crutchlow, Monster Yamaha Tech 3+1.441, 9. Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team+1.500, 10. Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech 3+1.510.