Casey Stoner has clinched the top spot in qualifying at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix, securing his fourth successive pole position at Phillip Island.
The Australian Repsol Honda rider continued his blistering Island form, beating Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) and Marco Simoncelli (Honda Gresini).
It is Stoner’s 11th pole from 16 rounds this year.
Stoner languished as low as fourth in the first half of the session, but as he has done so many times before, unleashed his raw speed, reeling off the three fastest times of the sessions, scoring the top spot.
Behind Lorenzo and Simoncelli was Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki), scoring his career-best qualifying result.
Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati) took fifth and sixth ahead of Ben Spies (Yamaha), who crashed heavily at Turn 3 early in the session, but rejoined later to take seventh place.
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Dani Pedrosa (Honda), Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Loris Capirossi (Pramac Ducati) rounded out the top 10.
Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi (Ducati) placed a lowly 13th.
Karel Abraham crashed his Cardion AB Ducati at Siberia in the closing stages of the session while Australian rider Damian Cudlin (Aspar Ducati) completed only one slow lap. After his heavy crash in the morning’s practice session, Cudlin is uncertain to start tomorrow’s race.
See below for the complete grid for tomorrow’s Iveco Australian Grand Prix.
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 27 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 321.4 | 1’29.975 | |
| 2 | 1 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 314.9 | 1’30.448 | 0.473 / 0.473 |
| 3 | 58 | Marco SIMONCELLI | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 316.5 | 1’30.599 | 0.624 / 0.151 |
| 4 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | Rizla Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | 319.3 | 1’30.714 | 0.739 / 0.115 |
| 5 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 320.6 | 1’30.780 | 0.805 / 0.066 |
| 6 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 314.7 | 1’30.792 | 0.817 / 0.012 |
| 7 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 315.7 | 1’30.835 | 0.860 / 0.043 |
| 8 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 316.1 | 1’30.871 | 0.896 / 0.036 |
| 9 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 314.2 | 1’31.237 | 1.262 / 0.366 |
| 10 | 65 | Loris CAPIROSSI | ITA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 310.3 | 1’31.583 | 1.608 / 0.346 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 313.9 | 1’31.635 | 1.660 / 0.052 |
| 12 | 7 | Hiroshi AOYAMA | JPN | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 318.9 | 1’31.889 | 1.914 / 0.254 |
| 13 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 315.4 | 1’31.980 | 2.005 / 0.091 |
| 14 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 316.5 | 1’32.023 | 2.048 / 0.043 |
| 15 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 321.1 | 1’32.054 | 2.079 / 0.031 |
| 16 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 321.6 | 1’32.503 | 2.528 / 0.449 |
| 6 | Damian CUDLIN | AUS | Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP | Ducati | 303.8 | 1’36.666 | 6.691 / 4.163 |
