Today’s qualifying session at Valencia saw Casey Stoner take the final pole position of the 2010 season and his 21st with Ducati, in the last weekend with the Italian team, with a blazing 1′31″799 lap.
The Australian’s T4 was simply amazing, his pace at that one sector made the difference between the Ducatista and Jorge Lorenzo.
The World Champion wearing his sparkly 12.
000 euro bling helmet took the second spot on the grid and was a little more than three tenths off Stoner’s best lap.
Marco Simoncelli took third and his first row starting position for the first time in MotoGP for Gresini Honda and just 0.
114s from Lorenzo, and beating both Honda factory riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, who were 8th and 9th respectively.
Valentino Rossi struggled throughout the entire 45 minute qualifying session, but as usual, the Italian in a last lap lunge propelled himself to fourth, but his race pace is completely off, between 7 to 9 tenths slower than the front of the field.
Nicky Hayden was fifth and just 0.
092 sec from his future team mate, leading ahead of Yamaha Tech3’s team Texas, with Ben Spies in front of Colin Edwards by a mere 0.
013s.
Hayden and Spies are equal on points in the fight for sixth in the final standings.
Marco Melandri in his last MotoGP qualifying session before heading to WSBK, closed out the top tenMotoGP Valencia Qualifying Results:01- Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – 1’31.
79902- Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
33103- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
44504- Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
53105- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.
62306- Ben Spies – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
76707- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
78008- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
80409- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 1.
08710- Marco Melandri – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
11811- Randy De Puniet – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
12612- Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
28613- Hector Barbera – Paginas Amarillas Aspar – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
37114- Loris Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
54015- Hiroshi Aoyama – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
54416- Carlos Checa – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
70017- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
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