Stoner on Pole at Assen

Ducati Team rider and reigning world champion Casey Stoner has scored his third successive pole in qualifying for the Assen TT this weekend. The Australian is the first of three riders with qualifying times under the previous lap record in a depleted field of just sixteen riders.

The small MotoGP field is due to the absence of Loris Capirossi and John Hopkins, who both suffered major crashes and were unable to take the start grid. Loris has a puncture wound in his forearm after being trapped under his sliding Suzuki while John Hopkins suffered a broken ankle and to breaks to his leg after coliding with the advertising boards after a lowside at the fast Ramshoek corner.

The weekend has been marred by atrocious weather and often unreadable wind and rain. The conditions deemed too difficult and treacherous for Kawasaki and Rizla Suzuki to replace thier fallen riders with substitutes.

Stoner shares the front row with Dani Pedrosa who topped a wet and slippery free practice two and championship leader Valentino Rossi.

Nicky Hayden continues to perform with Honda’s new pneumatic valve engine in fourth while Randy De Puniet makes a surprise appearance rounding out the top five. Colin Edwards ends his run as the only rider to qualify in the top five all season with a sixth place birth for Assen.

Jorge Lorenzo is still battling confidence after a string of heavy falls and injuries but did well to qualify 7th leading the third row from Suzuki lone gunman Chris Vermeulen in 8th and Shinya Nakano in ninth.

Sylvain Guintoli rounds out the top ten in his best qualifying performance in 2008 so far.

The race is tipped to be a wet race with difficult conditions and possible gusty winds.

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Lap time Km/h Gap
1 1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′35.520 297.193
2 2 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.552 293.318 0.032
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′35.659 290.869 0.139
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1′35.975 293.000 0.455
5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1′35.985 281.616 0.465
6 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1′36.278 290.010 0.758
7 48 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 1′36.532 290.010 1.012
8 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1′36.768 284.061 1.248
9 56 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.804 285.186 1.284
10 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team Ducati 1′36.823 294.679 1.303
11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP Honda 1′36.899 284.435 1.379
12 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1′36.948 282.279 1.428
13 52 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1′36.978 285.638 1.458
14 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team Ducati 1′37.287 294.037 1.767
15 21 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1′37.643 287.157 2.123
16 13 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 1′37.793 290.244 2.273
17 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1′38.726 293.000 3.206