PHILLIP ISLAND, Australia (AFP) — Casey Stoner raised hopes of finishing his disappointing season on an upswing with a record lap to snare pole position for his home Australian MotoGP here Saturday.
The Australian Ducati racer, who relinquished his world title to Valentino Rossi last weekend in Japan, reeled off a record lap time of one minute 28.665 seconds and is favourite to win Sunday's race.
While Stoner, 22, was looking forward to repeating last year's success before his fans at Phillip Island, Rossi faced the prospect of a painful night treating a neck injury after a tumble late in Saturday's qualifying session.
Rossi was thrown awkwardly from his Fiat Yamaha and landed heavily on his neck leaving him well down in 12th spot on qualifying times and racing to be fit for the GP.
Stoner, who is battling problems of his own with a troublesome wrist, trumped Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo by 0.069secs on his final flying lap to take the pole.
Stoner eclipsed Nicky Hayden's 2006 qualifying record of 1:29.020 at the 4.448-km seaside circuit by almost four-tenths of a second to grab his eighth pole of the season and 14th overall in his 50th MotoGP.
"I thought the lap time would be good enough for a front row start but we ended up on pole position so I'm surprised and extra happy," Stoner said.
"This is my home race but there is no pressure on us and I just want to enjoy it.
"It was definitely one of my hardest poles and one of my hardest qualifying sessions ever."
It was Rossi's worst qualifying result in 12 visits to Phillip Island across the moto classes.
The last time Rossi missed starting off the front row in Australia was back in 2002, when he qualified seventh and came through to win the race.
Rossi said he would have treatment overnight on his stiff neck and rest in an attempt to be fit to race.
"Tomorrow I am sure I will feel a lot better. We have good tyres and a good set-up so I will try to ride a good race," he said.
Rossi's teammate Lorenzo, who was denied a second consecutive qualifying victory, will start from the front row for the fourth straight race.
"I am disappointed to miss out on the pole position by such a tiny amount, but I am happy to be on the front row and to have such a good race pace," Lorenzo said.
Honda's Hayden was third fastest with 1:28.756 with Frenchman Randy De Puniet was fourth quickest on his Honda with 1:28.808.
Hayden looked to be on course for a repeat of his 2005 and 2006 pole positions with just minutes remaining in qualifying, but missed out and the 2006 MotoGP world champion will complete the front row alongside Stoner and Lorenzo.
"I've had a couple of poles here before and today another one certainly wasn't out of the question," Hayden said.
"But we've been competitive all weekend, fastest this morning and in the rain yesterday, so we're not too far away."
Italian Marco Simoncelli smashed Sebastian Porto's 2004 pole record to take pole position in the 250cc Australian GP with a time of 1:32.075.
The Metis Gilera rider leads the world championship by 32 points with three races left.
Frenchman Mike di Meglio took his second pole in seven days with a best lap of 1:37.553 in the 125cc class and is in a strong position to extend his advantage in the overall standings or even clinch the world title on Sunday.
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