MotoGP – Losail Qualifying – Stoner on pole, Rossi and Lorenzo on the front row

The 2010 MotoGP season starts under the sign of Casey Stoner, author of the pole position on the Losail circuit as in 2009. The Australian, whose best time was 1'55.007, managed to hold on in first position despite the attempts of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, who will join him in tomorrow's race from the front row.

The two Yamaha riders managed to stay in front in the first two sectors of the circuit, but Stoner managed to make the difference in the last stretch where he trailed Rossi by 3 tenths and Lorenzo by 5.

For Casey Stoner it is the nineteenth pole position in MotoGP on the track where he has won in the last three seasons with his Ducati, and where he will still start as favourite. Randy De Puniet will start on the second row with the Honda of Team LCR, who preceded Loris Capirossi (at his 300th career GP) and Andrea Dovizioso.

Seventh time for Dani Pedrosa who managed to recover positions, staying ahead of the Americans Edwards and Hayden and Hiroshi Aoyama, tenth on his debut. Superbike world champion Ben Spies was only eleventh, while Marco Simoncelli slipped to 15th, as did Kallio and Bautista. Last in the standings is Marco Melandri, 2 seconds and 3 tenths from pole.