Stoner storms to Valencia pole

From motogp.com

Casey Stoner put on a stunning display in his final qualifying session with Ducati to take pole position for the last race of the 2010 season at Valencia on Saturday, posting the only sub-1:32 lap of the weekend so far in a strong 45-minute run.

The Australian’s hot lap of 1:31.799 left him 0.331 secs. clear at the top of the timesheet, and came after he had dealt with an early run-off as he pushed hard for his fourth pole of the campaign.

I couldn’t ask for much more out of this weekend. We’ve had a fantastic run, been very fast in every session and were able to do some good lap times,” said Stoner. “Of course we don’t know what everybody else is capable of in the race tomorrow, and we still have a lot of work to do to get the right feeling for the race, but we’re starting in the best possible position and are in a good frame of mind.”

Stoner’s confidence in his Desmosedici, on which he has won three of the last five rounds, means he is optimistic of being able to push for what could be a 24th premier class win with the Bologna factory in his final race on the team.

“The Championship for me this season has been long gone, but I’ve been going out and trying to win every race I can. Since we’ve had the bike set up well enough to compete for wins I have been going for it, and we have made a couple of mistakes but you get on with it. The whole season we were struggling to get seconds and thirds whilst on the limit, but now we’re able to win races with a lot more confidence. So we’re in a pretty good position at the moment and for this race tomorrow we’ll just have to hold out and see if we can win one more.”

World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, sporting a special edition helmet for the final-round occasion, followed Stoner onto the front row with a best effort of 1:32.130 on his Fiat Yamaha M1 having led for a large portion of the session.

“When I made the 32.1 lap I thought it would be really difficult for Casey to beat me, but he really put in the perfect lap and 31.8 in these conditions is very quick,” said Lorenzo, who clinched the BMW M Best Qualifier Award for the season. “So let’s see what happens tomorrow, but for today I’m really happy to be on the front row in front of the Spanish crowd and we’ll try at the maximum tomorrow. Cheste is not one of my favourite tracks, I have always had difficulty getting good results here, but this year it seems I’m in better shape so I will push at the maximum from start to finish.”

Carrying his progress from the practice sessions into qualifying was Marco Simoncelli and the Italian rookie’s display was rewarded with his first front-row start in the premier class. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider was just over a tenth of a second off Lorenzo.

Last weekend in Portugal the Italian missed out on a first MotoGP podium by just 0.059 secs. as he placed fourth from 10th on the grid, but having given himself a clear start for Sunday’s race at Valencia Simoncelli has his eye firmly fixed on a rostrum result.

“I’m very happy with my first front row,” he said. “In the last few races we have improved a little bit with each race, and here we have taken another step up. The rhythm I had today could be good for the race so I’m confident for tomorrow and hope to get the podium.”

A late surge from Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) placed the Italian fourth (+0.531 secs. on Stoner) as he battled to find enough pace to challenge near the top end, with American duo Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also taking places on the second row of the grid.

Completing the top 10 in the session were Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Sunday’s season-ending Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana gets underway at 2:00pm local time.

Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías will start the final race of the season at Valencia from pole position – his third of the year – after topping qualifying on Saturday with a best lap of 1:36.141.

The Gresini Racing rider finished the session fractionally over a tenth of a second ahead of German rider Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), who had been strong in the practice runs.

Joining the duo on the front row will be Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) as they both got within 0.202 secs. of pole. Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2), Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP), Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and Carmelo Morales (Racing Team Germany) will all start from the second row, meaning Iannone and Simón will play out their battle for the runner-up spot in the Championship with the Spaniard lining up directly behind his Italian rival on the grid.

Marc Márquez will aim to secure his first World Championship title from pole position at Valencia on Sunday, after topping qualification for the final round of the 125cc 2010 season. The Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider, who leads Nico Terol by 17 points going into the last race, finished the session 0.108 secs. ahead of his rival and the only other rider who can still claim the 125cc title.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati 1:31.799
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha 1:32.130
3. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:32.244
4. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 1:32.330
5. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati 1:32.422
6. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:32.566
7. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:32.579
8. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda 1:32.603
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda 1:32.886
10. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:32.917
11. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda 1:32.925
12. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati 1:33.085
13. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:33.170
14. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki 1:33.339
15. Hiroshi AOYAMA (JPN) Interwetten Honda 1:33.343
16. Carlos CHECA (SPA) Pramac Ducati 1:33.499
17. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki 1:33.515