Daily Update MotoGP

Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner clinched his seventh pole position on the trot in dominant fashion ahead of tomorrow's San Marino MotoGP at Misano.

Despite Stoner's gap of over half a second over Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, it was an exciting one-hour session, with the Australian - who is battling a recurring wrist injury - exchanging top spot several times with the two Fiat Yamahas.

In the end, the reigning champion set an outstanding 1:33.378 with just two minutes of the session to go, which pushed Lorenzo down to second after the Spaniard had just managed to beat Rossi's provisional pole position time.

With the time expiring, Rossi was looking able to snatch pole back after setting the fastest time in the first sectors of his home track, but he ultimately dropped back and had to settle for second, 0.510 seconds behind his title rival.

With an impressive return to form, Lorenzo completes the front row, less than a tenth behind his championship-leading teammate.

Honda LCR's Randy de Puniet leads the second row of the grid, ahead of Toni Elias's Alice Ducati and Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

Chris Vermeulen put his Rizla Suzuki on the seventh spot, followed by Shinya Nakano's Honda Gresini and the two Tech 3 Yamahas of James Toseland and Colin Edwards.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:33.378
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:33.888 + 0.510
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:33.964 + 0.586
4. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:34.236 + 0.858
5. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:34.322 + 0.944
6. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:34.398 + 1.020
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:34.461 + 1.083
8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:34.494 + 1.116
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:34.652 + 1.274
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:34.795 + 1.417
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:34.926 + 1.548
12. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:34.961 + 1.583
13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:35.153 + 1.775
14. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:35.381 + 2.003
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:35.418 + 2.040
16. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:35.584 + 2.206
17. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:35.980 + 2.602
18. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:37.047 + 3.669
ref[AS]

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MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner says it will be nearly impossible to retain his crown now that Valentino Rossi has such a big lead in the championship.

Stoner had fought back after a difficult start to the season, winning four consecutive races and finishing second to Rossi at the United States Grand Prix.

But the Ducati rider made a rare mistake in the last race in Brno and crashed, handing Rossi a 50-point lead with six races remaining.

Stoner reckons catching the Italian will be almost impossible.

"We have six races to go and these are the ones we have to look at now," Stoner told a news conference at Misano. "It has been a disappointing couple of races, mainly the last one.

"It's given Valentino a huge gap in the championship and it's just time for us to keep our heads down and try to do the best we can in these last races. We have nothing more to do other than this.

"I think chasing a championship down with this points gap is maybe possible with other riders, but with Valentino is nearly impossible."

He added: "We have to do the best job we can. We found some positive points in the Brno test. We have a little more confidence with the bike and hopefully we won't make a mistake like last week.

"But considering we've done 30 races with Ducati and this was my first crash in a race, so I think it's acceptable."

Despite the pessimism about his championship chances, Stoner is expecting to enjoy a strong race at Misano this weekend.

"Last year was a good race for us and we'll see what happens this year. But we seem to perform well here, so we'll just have to see."
ref[AS]
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Valentino Rossi extended his points lead and ended Casey Stoner's run of three victories by winning a ferocious battle with the Australian at Laguna Seca.
The pair swapped the lead several times in the first part of the race, running absolutely together and producing the most exciting racing of the year so far.
Rossi never allowed Stoner to stay ahead for long, and their tussle was decided with just over eight laps to go, when Stoner ran wide avoiding Rossi at the final corner and fell in the gravel. Their advantage was so great, however, that the reigning champion was able to rejoin still in second.
Today's win increases the Fiat Yamaha rider's championship advantage over his Ducati Marlboro rival to 25 points, while Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who had to withdraw from the event, now lags 41 points behind the Italian.

Rossi, who had never won at the California track before, edged ahead of Stoner for the lead on the first lap at the entry of the circuit's legendary Corkscrew.
At the start of lap four Stoner overtook Rossi on front straight, but the latter took it back on the second corner. Stoner got ahead again just before the Corkscrew, but Rossi would have none of it, and grabbed the lead back by putting both wheels in the gravel at the inside of the famous corner and just managing to stay on the bike.
Meanwhile, their lead over the rest of the pack started increasing by about one second every lap. The two exchanged the lead again on lap five, 13, 14, and 24, just before Stoner fell at the last corner of the lap.
Stoner lost almost 14 seconds to Rossi with that fall, but at the beginning of that lap the lead was more than 22 seconds over third-placed Chris Vermeulen.
JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who ended up fourth eight seconds behind the Rizla Suzuki, beat the factory Honda of Nicky Hayden and the LCR Honda of Randy de Puniet.
Toni Elias got his best result of the year by finishing seventh with his Alice Ducati. The Spaniard finished just ahead of Suzuki's wild card Ben Spies and Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland.
American Jamie Hacking, standing in for injured John Hopkins at Kawasaki, ended his MotoGP debut at 37 years of age in eleventh place, soundly beating Anthony West who finished 17th and last with the same machinery.
Marco Melandri had an encouraging early part of the race with his factory Ducati that saw him getting up to ninth place, before having a long run through the gravel that dropped him dead last on lap 10. The Italian eventually classified 16th.
Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo had a major high-side on the first lap right after passing Dovizioso for fifth, with the Spaniard flying high and crashing hard on the asphalt.
The MotoGP rookie was reportedly left with two fractures in his foot that should not require surgery.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:04.311
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 13.001
3. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 26.609
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 34.901
5. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 35.663
6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 37.668
7. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 41.629
8. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 41.927
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 43.019
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 44.391
11. Jamie Hacking Kawasaki (B) + 46.258
12. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 55.273
13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 55.521
14. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) +1:02.380
15. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) +1:08.207
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:10.962
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 1 lap
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 0
ref[AS]
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Valentino Rossi´s best efforts in Laguna Seca were not enough to deny Casey Stoner a fifth consecutive pole position, although the Italian will start the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix from the front row.

At times the performances of MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner have left his rivals with little option but to laugh so as not to cry, with a recent run of three victories and five pole positions on the bounce showing the Australian´s quality for all to see. A rider more used to dishing out the punishment than receiving it, Valentino Rossi was tasked with seeing the funny side of his nemesis´ dominance in qualifying for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
`To stop Stoner, you´d have to shoot him,´ said Rossi when asked by Spanish television channel TVE as to how he could beat the Ducati Marlboro man in Sunday´s race.
Rossi did, however place on the front row for the Laguna Seca showdown, having identified a top grid position as a must in the run-up to this weekend´s race. His pace may have been consistent mid-1´22 laps rather than the daunting mid-1´21´s recorded by Stoner, but he remained confident of at the very least a positive result to take him into the summer break as the World Championship leader.
`Second is a good position to start from tomorrow. We have had one or two small problems that perhaps it will be possible to fix when we do a few small modifications. Our race pace isn´t so bad,´ noted the Fiat Yamaha rider.
Whilst Rossi would probably not be permitted by the FIM to take weaponry onto the grid, he did have another tongue-in-cheek scheme up his sleeve in order to be the quickest on the draw on Sunday; when questioned in the immediate live international press feed as to whether he had a plan for victory over Stoner, the five-time MotoGP World Champion quickly replied:
`Yes. Start 30 seconds earlier than him.´
ref[motogp.com]
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Casey Stoner on course for US Grand Prix victory after converting perfect free practice performance into his fifth consecutive pole position.
Casey Stoner's average advantage over his nearest rival, during the four track sessions held so far this weekend at Laguna Seca, has been 0.6815secs.
Multiply that by the 32-lap US Grand Prix race distance and the Australian should win Sunday's race by 21.808secs.
Taking just the three free practice sessions, when only race tyres are used, and Stoner's projected victory margin becomes 24.309secs.

No one is more aware of those figures than world championship leader Valentino Rossi, who joked that his plan to stop Stoner winning his fourth race in a row involves "starting 30 seconds earlier!"

Indeed, should Stoner convert pole into an early race lead it will be a major shock if he doesn't win his fifth race of the season. But it's not Stoner's fault that his rivals are so comparatively weak and the young Australian needs to do all he can to erase the current points gap Rossi.
Stoner had been languishing 50 points from the top at the start of June, but is now just four points behind the absent Dani Pedrosa and 20 from Rossi - numbers that look set change even further in Stoner's favour after round eleven of 18.
"I'm happy with how we're looking in race trim and with the fact we're on pole again," said Casey of his fifth pole in a row. "I didn't manage to get the most out of the first two qualifiers because the front tyre, which is working perfectly with the race rear, was a bit too soft for the qualifying and I wasn't confident enough push it 100%. With the third one I gave it my best shot and we've come out with another pole. Congratulations to the team, who are working as hard as always, and Bridgestone for another fantastic job."
Rossi will start alongside Stoner, with Honda's home hero Nicky Hayden completing the front row.
Stoner's Ducati Marlboro team-mate Marco Melandri was unable to carry his good morning from into qualifying and will line-up just 15th for what might be his last race as a Desmosedici rider.
ref[crash]
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Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:20.700
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:21.147 + 0.447
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:21.430 + 0.730
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:21.864 + 0.936
5. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:21.848 + 1.148
6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:21.921 + 1.221
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:21.947 + 1.247
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:21.971 + 1.271
9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:21.974 + 1.274
10. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:21.999 + 1.299
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:22.039 + 1.339
12. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:22.092 + 1.392
13. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) 1:22.147 + 1.427
14. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:22.719 + 2.019
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:22.957 + 2.257
16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:23.035 + 2.335
17. Jamie Hacking Kawasaki (B) 1:23.309 + 2.609
18. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:24.525 + 3.825

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A crash suffered whilst leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland could have left Dani Pedrosa with a broken finger and fractured ankle.
Whilst some of his MotoGP World Championship rivals will be making a direct journey to Laguna Seca for next weekend´s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa will be making a brief stopover in Barcelona to undergo examination on a suspected broken index finger and ankle injury.
The Repsol Honda rider was leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland when he crashed out of the race, taking a big impact as he was flung from his RC212V. The fall dealt a double blow to the Spaniard, who not only conceded the lead in the World Championship but also could be affected by the latest in a string of injuries.
Pedrosa was examined in the Clinica Mobile immediately after the crash, with MotoGP Medical Director Dr. Claudio Macchiagodena giving an initial diagnosis of a fractured left digit. Further examination at the Clinica Dexeus in Pedrosa´s home city will reveal the full extent of the damage caused by the Sunday afternoon spill, the cause of which he was at a loss to explain.
`It was a little strange. I had only just touched the brake and I crashed. It was a real pity because I´d got a great start and was going well. I had a good feeling. The front felt perfect, the rear was sliding just a little, but the general feeling was good considering the track conditions. It is a real pity, ´ said the rider himself.
Finger fractures are notoriously fickle for riders, as their effects can vary wildly depending on the exact location of the break and how this corresponds to the demands of gripping and operating levers. With this in mind, Pedrosa´s participation in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix could be in doubt.
Exclusive footage of the crash is available on motogp.com.

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