Australian Casey Stoner took pole position on his Ducati for the season-ending Valencia MotoGP, shading local favourite Dani Pedrosa by 0.053 of a second on Saturday.
The session saw the last appearance for Bridgestone´s special qualifying rubber, put to expert use by the Australian for his nineteenth MotoGP top spot. Riding on dry asphalt for the first time this weekend, Stoner upped his pace before putting down his fastest lap with time to spare.
2007 Valencia poleman and racewinner Dani Pedrosa was just 0.053 short of his rival´s marker, at the track where he and Stoner did battle throughout their time in various classes and championships. The Gran Premio Parts Europe de la Comunitat Valenciana will be the second consecutive race in which Pedrosa will start from the front row, the ninth time this season.
Nicky Hayden had posted the quickest times in the three previous practice sessions, which had been held in damp conditions.
The second row is made up of American Colin Edwards and Britain’s James Toseland on Yamahas, and Frenchman Randy de Puniet on another Honda.
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