MotoGP Phillip Island, Qualifying: Crash and Pole position for Casey Stoner

Pole position with thrill for Casey Stoner at Phillip Island, theater of the AirAsia Australian Grand Prix, penultimate stage of the 2012 world championship. Right at the start of the session the Australian centaur (who competes for the last time in Australia, given that he will retire at the end of the year) was the victim of a bad high-side, which raised fears for his ankle, already damaged after the crash in Indianapolis which had caused him to miss three races.

Fortunately, the reigning champion got up, limping, but without many problems, so much so that with the second bike he managed to take pole position with a time of 1:29.623. For the Honda rider it is the fifth pole position of 2012, the thirty-ninth of his career in MotoGP, a class in which he has raced since 2006.

Behind him with the second half was the world championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. The Majorcan Yamaha rider stopped the clock at a time of 1:30.140, a time just over half a second away from that set by Stoner. The 2010 world champion didn't lap much and in the end he limited the gap to the Australian from Honda, especially compared to the gaps he made in free practice.

Lorenzo preceded his rival in the title race Dani Pedrosa, who achieved the third fastest time, but who did so by "catching up" 952 thousandths of a second behind his team-mate Stoner. Tomorrow, to keep the championship open, he will have to try to get ahead of Lorenzo, who precedes him in the championship by 23 points. It won't be easy, but in the races Pedrosa has shown in the last few GPs that he is going really fast.

Cal Crutchlow instead confirmed the fourth time achieved in free practice. The British centaur of Team Tech 3 will therefore open the second row, which will also include Stefan Bradl and our Andrea Dovizioso, the next Ducati rider. The driver from Forlì suffers a gap from the top of 1.577 and around four tenths from his team-mate Crutchlow.

Seventh time instead for the Honda RC213V SAT of Alvaro Bautista, rider of Team Gresini. The Spaniard managed to get behind the first Ducati, that of Valentino Rossi from Pesaro, eighth, 2.038 from Stoner's pole position. However, the Ducati rider maintained a good race pace and tomorrow with a good start he could fight with the group immediately behind Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

Closing out the Top Ten are the excellent Randy de Puniet with the first CRT, the ART Aprilia of Team Aspar and Nicky Hayden, still in great difficulty and riding the second Ducati GP12. However, the American is very close to Rossi and the Frenchman from Team Aspar.

The Italians with the CRTs are Michele Pirro, 14th with the FTR Honda of Team Gresini, Danilo Petrucci, 15th with the Ioda Suter BMW and Roberto Rolfo, eighteenth with the ART Aprilia of Team Speed ​​Master.