Casey Stoner maintained his excellent early-season form by clinching pole at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez.
The Australian, winner in Qatar last month, clocked one minute 38.757 secs, 0.158 quicker than Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa.
And world champion Jorge Lorenzo was in third to complete the same front row as the season opener last month.
Lorenzo’s Yamaha team-mate Ben Spies will line up in fourth spot on the grid, just in front of Gresini Honda’s Marco Simoncelli and the Repsol of Andrea Dovizioso. BBC Sport
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MotoGP: Spanish Grand Prix - Final Practice Results
Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) crashed at turn 5 in the final ten minutes of qualifying but finished as the top Ducati rider in seventh position, 1.135 behind the pole position lap.
Veteran Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) who scored a rostrum finish here in 2007, will start in eighth position after a fall in the dying moments of qualifying which he accepted with a bow to the crowd. His team-mate at Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Cal Crutchlow was one place behind in ninth in his first qualifying session at the Andalucian circuit.
There was a high speed crash for Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) when he went off in the Àlex Crivillé corner and got knocked by his bike during the accident. There were initial concerns for his left leg immediately after the accident but he was ok to continue after jumping onto his second bike. The Japanese rider took the final spot in the top ten. Motogp.com
Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, a winner on six occasions at Jerez, finished back in 12th as his difficult start to his time with home team Ducati continued.
The Italian, who was seventh on debut in the Qatar race, needed to use his spare bike to complete the session after an early crash.
Teammate Nicky Hayden, another former world champion, did only marginally better as the American finished 11th.
It was a day that saw several riders tumble off their bikes, with Japan’s Hiroshi Aoyama lucky to escape relatively unscathed after a high-speed crash and veteran American Colin Edwards also losing control of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3. CNN International
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