Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner was in dominant form at his home Grand Prix at the Phillip Island circuit, easily leading the second free practice sessions (including the last half of the practice, when rain fell on the circuit and field switched to wet tires) and then laying down a scorching lap during the following one-hour qualifying session that Valentino Rossi had no answer for after the Fiat Yamaha rider had stolen the top spot with seven minutes remaining. Granted, Stoner’s lap was only 0.05 second quicker, but it was enough. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa finished out the front row with a flyer on his penultimate lap, recovering from a crash midway through the session in the Southern Loop on the back section of the circuit. Rossi’s Fiat Yamaha teammate (and rival for the championship) Jorge Lorenzo just missed out on the front row by a scant 0.001 second, after suffering from a bout of food poisoning yesterday. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha’s Colin Edwards continued his string of good results with a fifth place qualifying spot once again, just 0.025 seconds behind Lorenzo. Stoner’s teammate Nicky Hayden was up in the top four early, but as everyone started picking up the pace, Hayden had little answer, and he just managed to beat out LCR Honda’s Randy De Puniet and Pramac Ducati’s Mika Kallio for seventh on the grid.
Qualifying results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1:30.341
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1:30.391
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1:31.070
4. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha 1:31.071
5. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1:31.096
6. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Honda 1:31.260
7. Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 1:31.325
8. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Honda 1:31.380
9. Mika Kallio (FIN) Ducati 1:31.384
10. Andrea Dovisioso (ITA) Honda 1:31.472