The only real surprise in Casey Stoner taking pole position for the Australian MotoGP was the fact that he left it until the second half of the session to secure it.

Stoner looked slightly unsettled for the first half of the qualifying session and at one point even looked like he would have to fight to stay in the top 3. With less than 20 minutes to go, Stoner found his rhythm and locked in a number of fast laps to claim pole position, his 11th pole of the season so far.

Jorge Lorenzo will try to make sure that the race tomorrow is anything but a given for Stoner, as he qualified in 2nd position, 0.473 seconds behind the Australian.

The shock of the day came in the form of Alvaro Bautista, who pulled out a stunning late lap (with the help of slipstreaming Andrea Dovizioso) to put his Rizla Suzuki in 3rd position. He eventually lost out when Marco Simoncelli pushed him off the front row, but his lap was strong enough to ensure that he stayed in 4th place – this is Bautista’s best MotoGP qualifying position to date.

MotoGP Qualifying Results from Phillip Island

1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m29.975s
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m30.448s + 0.473s
3. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m30.599s + 0.624s
4. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m30.714s + 0.739s
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m30.780s + 0.805s
6. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m30.792s + 0.817s
7. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m30.835s + 0.860s
8. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m30.871s + 0.896s
9. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m31.237s + 1.262s
10. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 1m31.583s + 1.608s
11. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m31.635s + 1.660s
12. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m31.889s + 1.914s
13. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m31.980s + 2.005s
14. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m32.023s + 2.048s
15. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m32.054s + 2.079s
16. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m32.503s + 2.528s
17. Damian Cudlin Aspar Ducati 1m36.666s + 6.691s

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