Print

Mail

wiki links

Stoner on pole in home Australian GP

Casey Stoner of Australia speeds through a corner during practice for the Australian MotoGP at the Phillip Island track on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia, on Saturday. Stoner is on pole, Jorge Lorenzo of Spain is second and Nicky Hayden of the US is third. PHOTO: AFP

Casey Stoner broke the circuit pole position record by nearly four-tenths of a second yesterday to qualify first for today’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

The Ducati rider and defending race champion will start his home event from pole for the first time after a fastest lap of 1:28.665 seconds yesterday on the 4.445km circuit.

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo will start from second, while his Yamaha teammate and newly crowned world champion Valentino Rossi crashed in qualifying and will start from 12th. American Nicky Hayden will start third for Honda.

Stoner’s eighth pole of the year prevented Lorenzo from taking a second consecutive qualifying win. The Spaniard, fastest in qualifying in Japan last week, was just 0.069 seconds from the top spot, but keeps his four-race front-row streak alive.

Hayden looked to be on course for a repeat of his 2005 and 2006 pole positions with just five minutes of qualifying remaining, but will start in the front row alongside Stoner and Lorenzo. Hayden held the previous pole position mark of 1:29.020 set in 2006.

Rossi will start from the fourth row after suffering an awkward crash when he ran off the course and into trackside stones with about 15 minutes left in the hour-long session.

He was reported by the MotoGP Web site to have picked up a slight neck injury, but was fit enough to come back out for a lap to assess his condition.

Rossi clinched his sixth MotoGP title with his win in Japan last week. He is attempting an 11th consecutive podium finish in Australia.

In 250cc qualifying, Marco Simoncelli of Italy also broke the previous pole mark in qualifying fastest.

His time of 1:32.075 broke Sebastian Porto’s 2004 record by nearly 1.3 seconds.

The Metis Gilera rider, who leads the world championship by 32 points, extended his streak of qualifying top spots to three in a row.

A week after taking his first career pole in Japan, 125cc world championship leader Mike di Meglio took his second in seven days yesterday at Phillip Island. The French rider had a time of 1:37.553 lap yesterday to confirm his provisional Friday spot.

The Ajo Motorsport Derbi rider was about two-tenths of a second faster than second-placed Bradley Smith of Britain, who moved his way back to the front row following a crash in the session.

The Polaris World Aprilia rider had to wait until his final lap to clinch second on the grid, sealing his ninth front row start of the year.

Meanwhile, Rossi says he is pushing to have the Australian Grand Prix moved to the season-opening race as it was before the event moved to Phillip Island in 1996.

“It is the wrong time of the year to be having the race in Phillip Island,” Rossi said yesterday. “I have been asking for two years ... along with all the other riders, to start in Phillip Island in March.”

The Australian World Superbike races will be staged at Phillip Island on March 1 and the Formula One Grand Prix held at Albert Park on March 29.

Rossi believes MotoGP officials are reluctant to make a switch because the month would be too crowded.

“The problem is the F1,” Rossi said.

But the Italian, who last week won his sixth MotoGP world title, said the rain and winds that often lash Phillip Island in October ruins the event for him.

“To come to this fantastic track with wind and rain it spoils it. Every time I come here I am very sad because it is the wrong time,” he said.

“Trust me, I tried to push a lot last year to change the race.”

The Australian GP is scheduled for October again next year, while the Qatar night race event will be the season-opener on April 12.
This story has been viewed 728 times.