A superb qualifying display from the Ducati rider sealed him pole position for the final race of 2010 ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli, the latter of whom secured his first front-row start. Valentino Rossi will start the race from fourth.
Valencia 2010 - MotoGP - QP - Highlights
Casey Stoner put on a stunning display in his final qualifying session with Ducati to take pole position for the last race of the 2010 season at Valencia, posting the only sub-1’32” lap of the weekend so far in a strong 45-minute run. The Australian’s hot lap of 1’31.799 left him 0.331s clear at the top of the timesheet, and came after he had dealt with an early run-off as he pushed hard for his fourth pole of the campaign.
World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, sporting a special edition helmet for the final-round occasion, followed Stoner onto the front row with a best effort of 1’32.130 on his Fiat Yamaha M1 having led for a large portion of the session.
Carrying his progress from the practice sessions into qualifying was Marco Simoncelli and the Italian rookie’s display was rewarded with his first front-row start in the premier class. The San Carlo Honda Gresini rider was just over a tenth of a second off Lorenzo.
A late surge from Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) placed the Italian fourth (+0.531s on Stoner) as he battled to find enough pace to challenge near the top end, with American duo Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also taking places on the second row of the grid.
Completing the top ten in the session were Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini).
Sunday’s season-ending Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana gets underway at 2pm local time.
1 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 310.3 1'31.799
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 305.5 1'32.130 0.331 / 0.331
3 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 303.7 1'32.244 0.445 / 0.114
4 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 305.4 1'32.330 0.531 / 0.086
5 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 305.7 1'32.422 0.623 / 0.092
6 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 305.1 1'32.566 0.767 / 0.144
7 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 305.3 1'32.579 0.780 / 0.013
8 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 312.4 1'32.603 0.804 / 0.024
9 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 311.3 1'32.886 1.087 / 0.283
10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 308.7 1'32.917 1.118 / 0.031
11 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 307.1 1'32.925 1.126 / 0.008
12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 303.1 1'33.085 1.286 / 0.160
13 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 311.0 1'33.170 1.371 / 0.085
14 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 306.5 1'33.339 1.540 / 0.169
15 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 308.3 1'33.343 1.544 / 0.004
16 71 Carlos CHECA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 305.3 1'33.499 1.700 / 0.156
17 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 305.9 1'33.515 1.716 / 0.016
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