News

Stoner TAKES POLE WITH DOMINANT DISPLAY

21/07/07

By David Miller

If Casey Stoner's form this season didn't have people's head scratching if should do now. He went out in final qualifying at Laguna this afternoon, gave it ten minutes, stuck in a 1'23.1 lap and then sat back and relaxed, waiting for people to catch his race-tyre time.

The 21-year-old is virtually unstoppable and, in a session where the top 16 were covered by one second, he managed to beat Dani Pedrosa by two-tenths and third-placed Chris Vermeulen by three - and took Nicky Hayden's pole record, which the American set on a 990. What does that tell you about his pace this season?

Marco Melandri suffered an horrific fall after 10 minutes, clipping a tardy Kurtis Roberts. He was forced into the gravel trap and had to jump off his Gresini Honda before it carried him into air-fence. He was examined by Doctor Costa and was back on track, finishing in 10th with a 1'23.018.

Rizla Suzuki's Vermeulen had a quiet session until the late on. He went out on a qualifier with 15 minutes to go and put in two laps which carried him in front of Casey Stoner. But not for long.

The Aussie was followed out by Britian's Chaz Davies on the D'Antin Ducati. This was the first time the Welshman had ever ridden a MotoGP in a qualifying session, let alone on a qualifier. But, by the end, he was only 0.7s off pole through timing sections two and three - just losing pace from the Corkscrew onwards. He finished only 1.8s off the pole time.

Valentino Rossi, who crashed this morning after hitting a trackside storm drain, finished fifth but only four-tenths off Stoner. Team-mate Edwards was two places behind, with Loris Capirossi and John Hopkins next along.

On the last but one lap, Hopkins had a contretemps with Carlos Checa as he deemed the LCR Honda rider had severly held him up on the run to the last left-hander before the Corkscrew.

Hometown hero Nicky Hayden did pop up to second a few minutes before the chequered flag but ended up fourth, lapping at 1'22.624.

MotoGP final qualifying - conditions dry

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team DUCATI 1'22.292
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'22.501
3 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'22.590
4 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'22.624
5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'22.683
6 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'22.914
7 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'22.933
8 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'22.943
9 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 1'23.006
10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'23.018
11 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'23.036
12 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.091
13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.113
14 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'23.207
15 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1'23.263
16 95 Roger Lee HAYDEN USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.425
17 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'23.557
18 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 1'23.662
19 17 Miguel DUHAMEL CAN Honda Gresini HONDA 1'23.923
20 57 Chaz DAVIES GBR Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'24.098 

MotoGP free practice three - conditions dry

Ducati's Casey Stoner continues to dominate practice at Laguna Seca, setting the pace this afternoon ahead of Suzuki's John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen - making it a Bridgestone one-two-three.

The young Aussie was a little over three tenths ahead of the field and it would seem not even those wise to the tricks that you need to navigate this bumpy track have the beating of him.

Gresini Honda's Marco Melandri kept up his stunning form to post a 1'22.821 lap, just half a second slower than Stoner to slot into fourth behind Rizla boys - who were within four tenths at the session end.

The top 15 riders were covered by a little over one second, so the pace for final qualifying should be intense. Britain's Chaz Davies placed 20th but he is still getting used to the D'Antin Ducati at a track on which he has never raced. The Welshman is within spitting distance of Kurtis Roberts and seasoned veteran Miguel DuHamel.

1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team DUCATI 1'22.365
2 71 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'22.723
3 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 1'22.756
4 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Honda Gresini HONDA 1'22.821
5 1 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'22.839
6 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'22.860
7 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'23.049
8 6 Makoto TAMADA JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'23.263
9 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 1'23.272
10 7 Carlos CHECA SPA Honda LCR HONDA 1'23.282
11 95 Roger Lee HAYDEN USA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.285
12 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.313
13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Kawasaki Racing Team KAWASAKI 1'23.333
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 1'23.361
15 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'23.468
16 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN Konica Minolta Honda HONDA 1'23.734
17 4 Alex BARROS BRA Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'23.930
18 17 Miguel DUHAMEL CAN Honda Gresini HONDA 1'24.626
19 80 Kurtis ROBERTS USA Team Roberts KR212V 1'24.928
20 57 Chaz DAVIES GBR Pramac d'Antin DUCATI 1'25.219