Stoner on Assen TT pole

From motogp.com

Casey Stoner fought off all comers in qualifying for the A-Style TT Assen on Friday, smashing the pole position record along the way.

The fastest lap ever recorded by a motorcycle at Assen gave Stoner a third consecutive pole position in preparation for round nine of the MotoGP World Championship, continuing his outstanding performances of the past seven days.

The Australian was in a class of his own in the first practice sessions for the A-Style TT Assen, but qualifying saw him having to dig even deeper as his two biggest rivals upped their game and lowered their times. A 1:35.520 lap, nearly a second quicker than the existing pole position record eventually won out for the reigning World Champion, gunning for his second victory in seven days.

"This afternoon was a lot windier than yesterday and the rain this morning meant that the track conditions weren´t at their optimum," Stoner said. "The front was pushing in a lot of corners where you really have to rely on it, so that made life 10 times more difficult than it should be.

"The softer rear put even more pressure on the front and I almost lost it on several occasions during the last three laps. To have qualified on pole despite all those things is fantastic."

A final lap from Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa very nearly spoiled the party for the Ducati rider, but the Spaniard fell short by just 0.032 as he marked his spot on the front row. Pedrosa now leads Stoner by three points in the BMW M Award for combined qualifying results.

The final piece of the front row puzzle was current series leader Valentino Rossi, the first to trouble Stoner during the session. His final shot, with a new set of Bridgestone qualifiers, was not quite enough, and in the end only 0.139 separated the front row trio.

Nicky Hayden, the 2006 Race winner, will head the second line in Saturday´s race, ahead of LCR Honda´s Randy de Puniet and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards. The front two rows all rode round under the previous 1:36.411 pole record.

Second Fiat Yamaha man Jorge Lorenzo is accompanied by 2007 poleman Chris Vermeulen and 2006 race runner-up Shinya Nakano on the third row.

Toni Elias looks set to start his first ever MotoGP race at Assen after completing the qualifying session without incident.

The only crashes were a pair of falls by John Hopkins, the latter a particularly high speed lowside.

Qualifying Results
1. C. STONER AUS (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1:35.520
2. D. PEDROSA SPA (Repsol Honda Team) +0.032
3. V. ROSSI ITA (Fiat Yamaha Team) +0.139
4. N. HAYDEN USA (Repsol Honda Team) +0.455
5. R. DE PUNIET FRA (LCR Honda MotoGP) +0.465
6. C. EDWARDS USA (Tech 3 Yamaha) +0.758
7. J. LORENZO SPA (Fiat Yamaha Team) +1.012
8. C. VERMEULEN AUS (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) +1.248
9. S. NAKANO JPN (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +1.284
10. S. GUINTOLI FRA (Alice Team) +1.303
11. A. DOVIZIOSO ITA (JiR Team Scot MotoGP) +1.379
12. A. DE ANGELIS RSM (San Carlo Honda Gresini) +1.428
13. J. TOSELAND GBR (Tech 3 Yamaha) +1.458
14. T. ELIAS SPA (Alice Team) +1.767
15. J. HOPKINS USA (Kawasaki Racing Team) +2.123
16. A. WEST AUS (Kawasaki Racing Team) +2.273
17. M. MELANDRI ITA (Ducati Marlboro Team) +3.206