Toseland Lines Up 14th For Farewell GP
Casey Stoner will start the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana in pole position after repeating his domination of the free practice sessions in qualifying on Saturday.
The Australian topped the timesheet by a clear 0.263s, with a best lap of 1’32.256 securing him the lead on the front row of the grid.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was next quickest as he improved his own best practice time by over 0.4s to secure second place, ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, who was third fastest overall in the practice sessions as well.
Heading up the second row of the grid will be Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate and World Champion Valentino Rossi, whose fourth position was enough to secure him the BMW M Award for best qualifier in MotoGP in 2009.
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) took fifth spot for the eighth time this season, after improving significantly on his own practice times from earlier in the weekend, whilst Stoner’s Ducati Marlboro team-mate Nicky Hayden took the final second-row slot with his final lap, beating Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) to sixth.
De Puniet recovered from an early crash to ensure seventh place, after an impressive showing in both practice sessions, whilst Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will occupy eighth in the starting positions.
Ben Spies, riding as a wildcard entry for the Sterilgarda Yamaha Team and completing only his fourth ever qualifying session in MotoGP, will line up ninth, with Andrea Dovizioso also coming through inside the top ten.
Pos Rider Team Time Gap
1. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m32.256s
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m32.519s + 0.263s
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m32.537s + 0.281s
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m32.922s + 0.666s
5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m33.085s + 0.829s
6. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m33.154s + 0.898s
7. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m33.391s + 1.135s
8. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m33.475s + 1.219s
9. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m33.539s + 1.283s
10. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m33.678s + 1.422s
11. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m33.809s + 1.553s
12. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m33.844s + 1.588s
13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m34.097s + 1.841s
14. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.107s + 1.851s
15. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m34.188s + 1.932s
16. Aleix Espargaro Pramac Ducati 1m34.308s + 2.052s
17. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m34.357s + 2.101s
18. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m34.537s + 2.281s
