Stoner Grabs MotoGP Pole Position With A Late Dash At Misano
Aug 30, 2008
MotoGP
Casey Stoner boosted his hopes of narrowing Valentino Rossi’s big MotoGP championship lead in Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix when he took pole position in qualifying on Saturday.
Ducati rider Stoner secured his seventh pole in a row ahead of world championship leader Valentino Rossi and Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in third.
Stoner had to dig deep for the honour of leading off the Gran Premio Cinzano di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, fighting back against some tough rivals on his final lap of the Saturday afternoon qualifying session. The Australian got back into his stride in the final two splits of the Misano circuit, with his 1´33.378 too much for even his most persistent challengers to match.
Half a second separated Stoner and World Championship leader Valentino Rossi´s fastest times on qualifying rubber, although the latter had been poised for a popular home pole until the last minute of the run. Rossi will start from second on the grid for the third race in a row, an important placing if he is to catch his hitherto uncatchable rival.
Italian Rossi, who is 50 points ahead of Stoner in the standings after taking his total up to 237 with wins in the preceding races in the Czech Republic and the United States, will be joined on the front row by his Yamaha team mate Jorge Lorenzo.
Spaniard Lorenzo, who made a strong start to his debut season in MotoGP but has struggled in recent races after a series of falls, recorded a best lap of 1:33.964 at the Misano circuit near Rimini in Italy.
