Stoner fears wrist injury will slow him

The 23-year-old Australian put his Ducati on pole position by 0.053 seconds ahead of Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden.

But, after a fractured scaphoid bone in his left wrist limited him to just sixth place in Malaysia last weekend, Stoner is just hoping he will be able to remain competitive through the race.

"It was disappointing in Malaysia, but pretty inevitable," Stoner told BBC TV. "I struggled to hang in there, so I'm really hoping that tomorrow it won't be too bad.

"Valencia is not as demanding on braking [as Sepang], there aren't as many hard braking points, but the change of direction is a lot, so the bike shakes a little.

"We thought it was going to be wet today so I didn't have any strapping put on my wrist, but it will definitely be on tomorrow, which should help a little bit. I hope I'll be able to pick the bike up alright."

Stoner's session was affected when his rear brake lever came loose in the final minutes, resulting in a few laps during which the Ducati looked decidedly nervous.

"I couldn't do my best when that happened," Stoner added. "Pole though, so I have to be happy with that."