Stoner on pole in Japan

World Championship leader Casey Stoner will start on pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.

Championship leader secures 10th pole position of the season

Casey Stoner will start on pole position for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix after setting the fastest time in qualifying at Motegi on Saturday. The Repsol Honda rider, who leads the standings and won the race last year, clocked a lap record of one minute 45.267seconds to go 0.256sec faster than reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo managed on his Yamaha Factory Racing bike. Stoner was also 0.524sec quicker than team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, who took pole at the track last year. It is the Australian's 10th pole position of the season, a new record for Moto GP, and his fourth in a row after the last three races in Aragon, San Marino and Indianapolis. Stoner said the new surface of the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, laid after damage caused by the earthquake that hit Japan in March, gave his soft tyres "fantastic" grip. "Everything seems to be going well. The bike's working well," he said. "We still need to improve a few small things. For me, on this circuit, I am pretty happy with the way things are going. We just have to wait out for tomorrow and see what the weather does and give it our best." Having won eight of the 14 races so far this season, Stoner enjoys a 44-point lead over Lorenzo and victory in Motegi would improve his chances of securing a second world title at his home grand prix at Phillip Island on October 16.

Tough race

Lorenzo was only fifth in free practice but improved after his team "changed the bike completely". "It's unbelievable, the lap time," the Spaniard said. "We were quite close to Honda (riders). On this track, they are so competitive. "So tomorrow (Sunday) is going to be a tough race for us, for all the Yamaha riders. But we are fighting with full motivation," he said. Meanwhile, Dovizioso said he was happy to start from the front row. "I'm really happy with the work of the team and the Honda is working really well at this track, I think tomorrow we will have a great race," the Italian said. Repsol Honda's third rider, Dani Pedrosa, qualified fourth ahead of Yamaha's Ben Spies and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team). Pedrosa, meanwhile, was disappointed to be knocked down to fourth after having led earlier in the session. He said: "At the end, when I switched to soft tyres, I couldn't get them working. I had much less grip. "I thought it could be a problem with the first tyre and so I came back to the garage to change it but again I had the same issue. "I am disappointed not to be on the front row, but the good feeling with the race tyres is good news." Seven-times champion Valentino Rossi was seventh for Ducati while Britain's Cal Crutchlow lines up 12th for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Times:
1 Casey Stoner (Aus) Honda 01mins 45.267secs, 2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 01:45.523, 3 Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 01:45.791, 4 Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 01:45.966, 5 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 01:46.042, 6 Marco Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 01:46.211, 7 Valentino Rossi (Ita) Ducati 01:46.467, 8 Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Suzuki 01:46.586, 9 Hector Barbera (Spa) Ducati 01:46.694, 10 Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 01:46.763, 11 Hiroshi Aoyama (Jpn) Honda 01:46.811, 12 Cal Crutchlow (Gbr) Yamaha 01:46.818, 13 Randy De Puniet (Fra) Ducati 01:46.917, 14 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 01:47.165, 15 Karel Abraham (Cze) Ducati 01:47.922