Birthday boy Stoner takes third straight Island pole

Stoner, who turns 25 today, resisted a mid-session challenge from new world champion Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha to claim his third straight pole at the Island and the 21st of his MotoGP career.

“It’s thrown about every condition at us it could over the last two days,” said Stoner, winner at Phillip Island for the last three years.

“We’ve done the best work we could in every condition; we improved a lot this morning in the last 30 minutes of free practice, but we couldn’t get the bike much better this afternoon until the last 30 minutes again.

“Then we made a big step and we’re very happy with the way things are going.”

Lorenzo went top with 13 minutes of the hour remaining on 1:30.775, but with just 10 minutes to go Stoner fired in a 1:30.281 on his 18th lap to go faster than his 2009 pole time.

Not content with that, Stoner put fresh tyres on to improve to 1:30.107 just before the heavens opened again over the 4.448km Grand Prix circuit.

Lorenzo, on pole six times this season, was not too disappointed by the Yamaha’s performance: “The track is cold, the wind was pushing a lot and it was difficult to stay on the bike,” said the 23-year-old Spaniard. “But I am happy with my pace – normally this track is not so good for me but we are second to Casey and he is always very quick here.”

On pole for the third time this year, Stoner is joined on the front row by Lorenzo and American rookie sensation Ben Spies.

Spies is no stranger to the Island, having won here in his Superbike days, and the 26-year-old used that experience to the full as he led the session in the early stages on the Tech 3 Yamaha and outqualified team-mate and compatriot Colin Edwards by two spots.

Starting from his best grid position of the year is another MotoGP rookie, Italian Marco Simoncelli on the Gresini Honda, who was fourth-quickest, building on the pace that has seen him start from pole in the last two seasons in the 250cc ranks.

The surprise of the session was Valentino Rossi’s eighth place, especially as the Italian from the other side of the Yamaha garage has just won in Malaysia and is back at a track where he has enjoyed so much success.

Rossi has only once been off the podium here, on his first-ever visit as a 125 rider, and will need the form that saw him come from 11th to first at Sepang if he is to maintain that record on Sunday.

The session’s biggest casualties were Loris Capirossi, who is struggling with a foot injury and came straight over the handlebars of his Suzuki after a rear-end lose up near the Hayshed, and Hector Barbera, whose privateer Ducati threw him off at Turn 1, though the Spaniard was able to walk away unaided.