Casey Stoner takes another MotoGP pole position in Germany

Stoner had kept a low profile in practice, but was in superb form in the decisive part of qualifying, taking provisional pole with a 1m21.808s and then improving to a 1m21.681s in the final moments.

Both laps were out of Stoner's rivals' reach, with Pedrosa taking second on a 1m21.933s.

An all-Honda front row looked likely until Jorge Lorenzo put his Yamaha up to third on his last lap, pushing the Gresini bike of Marco Simoncelli back to fourth - ending the Italian's run of front row starts.. The second works Yamaha of Ben Spies completed the top five.

Valentino Rossi's decline continued as he fell to his worst grid position of this tough season so far in 16th. The only man the seven-time MotoGP champion outpaced was returnee Sylvain Guintoli, who is substituting for the injured Loris Capirossi at Pramac Ducati this weekend.

Nicky Hayden at least got up to eighth on the other works Ducati, behind Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha). Randy de Puniet's Pramac Ducati and Alvaro Bautista's Suzuki completed the top 10.

Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow had a nasty fall at Turn 8 late on but was able to walk away, while Karel Abraham crashed both his primary and spare Cardion Ducatis yet still managed 13th on the grid.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner      Honda           1m21.681s
 2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda           1m21.933s  + 0.252s
 3.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha          1m21.944s  + 0.263s
 4.  Marco Simoncelli  Gresini Honda   1m21.954s  + 0.273s
 5.  Ben Spies         Yamaha          1m22.056s  + 0.375s
 6.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda           1m22.157s  + 0.476s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m22.368s  + 0.687s
 8.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati          1m22.388s  + 0.707s
 9.  Randy de Puniet   Pramac Ducati   1m22.503s  + 0.822s
10.  Alvaro Bautista   Suzuki          1m22.604s  + 0.923s
11.  Hector Barbera    Aspar Ducati    1m22.676s  + 0.995s
12.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m22.676s  + 0.995s
13.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati  1m23.164s  + 1.483s
14.  Toni Elias        LCR Honda       1m23.201s  + 1.520s
15.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Gresini Honda   1m23.248s  + 1.567s
16.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati          1m23.320s  + 1.639s
17.  Sylvain Guintoli  Pramac Ducati   1m24.707s  + 3.026s