Daily Update MotoGP

Casey Stoner beat Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi to pole position for the Dutch TT after a stunning battle between the trio in qualifying at Assen.
World champion Stoner had dominated the majority of the session, setting an early 1:36.623 lap that was a full second clear of the rest of the field at the time.
Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards briefly held provisional pole after an early qualifying tyre run, but when Stoner improved to a qualifying record 1:35.995 on his first qualifying tyre with 15 minutes remaining, it looked like he would prove unbeatable.
Rossi took the fight to the Ducati rider however, producing a 1:35.659 lap in the closing minutes to take the provisional top spot by three tenths of a second.

But Stoner wasn't finished yet, and with his last lap of the hour he regained pole position by lapping in 1:35.520.
Despite Rossi's best efforts, the championship leader was unable to beat Stoner's time, and he then lost second place when his title rival Dani Pedrosa (Honda) threw in a 1:35.552 lap in the final seconds.
Pedrosa had been up on Stoner's benchmark for three quarters of the lap, only to lose time in the final sector.
Nicky Hayden will start fourth on the second works Honda, alongside LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet and Edwards.
John Hopkins, who had already crashed at the chicane in the early part of the session, suffered a violent accident at the De Bult corner near the end of the hour.
The Kawasaki rider hit the barriers at high speed and received immediately medical attention. No information has yet been released about his condition.
Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo qualified seventh, with Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen eighth ahead of Shinya Nakano's Gresini Honda.
Sylvain Guintoli completed the top ten after a very impressive effort on the hitherto uncompetitive Alice Ducati.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps
1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:35.520 23
2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1:35.552 + 0.032 28
3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:35.659 + 0.139 29
4. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1:35.975 + 0.455 25
5. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1:35.985 + 0.465 28
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1:36.278 + 0.758 23
7. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:36.532 + 1.012 26
8. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:36.768 + 1.248 25
9. Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:36.804 + 1.284 25
10. Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1:36.823 + 1.303 26
11. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1:36.899 + 1.379 22
12. Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:36.948 + 1.428 24
13. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1:36.978 + 1.458 26
14. Toni Elias Alice Team 1:37.287 + 1.767 25
15. John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1:37.643 + 2.123 20
16. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1:37.793 + 2.273 26
17. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team 1:38.726 + 3.206 25
ref[AS]
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Reigning champion Casey Stoner took a dominant victory over rivals Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa in the British MotoGP at Donington Park.

This is the Ducati Marlboro rider's second victory of what has turned out to be a difficult season. Today's win allows him to take third in the points table ahead of Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, but still 45 points behind Rossi.

Stoner made a perfect start from pole position and after four laps he already had a one-second gap over Rossi, which doubled five laps later and steadily increased to over six by lap 25 of the 30-lap race.

Starting from the second slot of the grid, Fiat Yamaha's Rossi immediately fought and defended his second place with JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who had a fine start from sixth.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 44:44.982
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 5.789
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 8.347
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 12.678
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 14.801
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 15.690
7. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 18.196
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.666
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 29.354
10. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.030
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 44.426
12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 46.199
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 48.731
14. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 49.591
15. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) +1:22.186
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:30.021
17. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 1 lap

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16

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