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Stoner takes pole for Italian MotoGP
Source: Agencies |
July 3, 2011, Sunday
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WORLD championship leader Casey Stoner took pole position for the Italian MotoGP in a rain-affected qualifying session yesterday.
The Honda rider, champion in 2007, clocked one minute 48.034 seconds at the Mugello circuit to claim the 27th pole of his career and his fifth of the season.
American Ben Spies (Yamaha) and Italian Marco Simoncelli (Honda) will join the Australian on the front row of the grid for the eighth race of the year.
Stoner, who has won four races this season, was almost half a second faster than Spies who is racing at Mugello for only the second time. Simoncelli was edged into third spot by a hair's breadth.
World champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha, second in this year's series, will start in fifth place as he tries to add to his solitary win of the season in Spain while Italian great Valentino Rossi only managed to qualify 12th on his Ducati.
Rossi's compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, third in the championship, will start fourth on the grid on his Honda. Italian Loris Capirossi, 38, misses his home MotoGP for the first time in 20 years after fracturing two ribs last week.
Spaniard Dani Pedrosa of Honda, back after breaking his collarbone in a fall at the French Grand Prix last month, qualified in eighth place.
Stoner said: "We made one change on the bike from this morning and it worked out really well.
"To set this time with tires that had already put in 10 laps is very encouraging for the race."
Spies was also in good spirits for today's race.
"We've got a good bike, but not yet good enough," he said. "Everyone expects a lot of me, I'm aiming for a podium finish."
The Honda rider, champion in 2007, clocked one minute 48.034 seconds at the Mugello circuit to claim the 27th pole of his career and his fifth of the season.
American Ben Spies (Yamaha) and Italian Marco Simoncelli (Honda) will join the Australian on the front row of the grid for the eighth race of the year.
Stoner, who has won four races this season, was almost half a second faster than Spies who is racing at Mugello for only the second time. Simoncelli was edged into third spot by a hair's breadth.
World champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha, second in this year's series, will start in fifth place as he tries to add to his solitary win of the season in Spain while Italian great Valentino Rossi only managed to qualify 12th on his Ducati.
Rossi's compatriot Andrea Dovizioso, third in the championship, will start fourth on the grid on his Honda. Italian Loris Capirossi, 38, misses his home MotoGP for the first time in 20 years after fracturing two ribs last week.
Spaniard Dani Pedrosa of Honda, back after breaking his collarbone in a fall at the French Grand Prix last month, qualified in eighth place.
Stoner said: "We made one change on the bike from this morning and it worked out really well.
"To set this time with tires that had already put in 10 laps is very encouraging for the race."
Spies was also in good spirits for today's race.
"We've got a good bike, but not yet good enough," he said. "Everyone expects a lot of me, I'm aiming for a podium finish."
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