Dominant Casey Stoner equals pole record in Valencia qualifying

Stoner was at the head of the order throughout the session, which took place on a dry track as the rain that shook up 125cc qualifyng held off. The Australian was able to extend his advantage whenever he was threatened, and eventually put in a 1m31.861s to pull out a massive 1.014-second margin over his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa in second.

Randy de Puniet nearly got his Pramac Ducati onto the front row, but was usurped from third by Yamaha's Ben Spies in the end - leaving de Puniet to be content with a season-best fourth place.

Alvaro Bautista underlined Suzuki's recent improvements in fifth, ahead of the works Ducatis of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.

While Stoner and Pedrosa filled the top two places, third works Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso struggled - crashing heavily at Turn 4 on his final lap as he ended up eighth.

Hector Barbera recovered from early mechanical problems on his Aspar Ducati to qualify 10th, with Karel Abraham completing the top 10 for Cardion AB Ducati.

Loris Capirossi (Pramac) will start his final MotoGP race from 12th, while Colin Edwards' Tech 3 stand-in Josh Hayes was slowest in his first MotoGP qualifying session, but only just behind Yamaha factory rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga, who is substituting for the injured Jorge Lorenzo.

Pos  Rider               Team/Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner        Honda           1m31.861s
 2.  Dani Pedrosa        Honda           1m32.875s  + 1.014s
 3.  Ben Spies           Yamaha          1m33.057s  + 1.196s
 4.  Randy de Puniet     Pramac Ducati   1m33.118s  + 1.257s
 5.  Alvaro Bautista     Suzuki          1m33.443s  + 1.582s
 6.  Valentino Rossi     Ducati          1m33.478s  + 1.617s
 7.  Nicky Hayden        Ducati          1m33.656s  + 1.795s
 8.  Andrea Dovizioso    Honda           1m33.824s  + 1.963s
 9.  Hector Barbera      Pramac Ducati   1m34.186s  + 2.325s
10.  Karel Abraham       Cardion Ducati  1m34.265s  + 2.404s
11.  Cal Crutchlow       Tech 3 Yamaha   1m34.329s  + 2.468s
12.  Loris Capirossi     Pramac Ducati   1m34.671s  + 2.810s
13.  Toni Elias          LCR Honda       1m34.680s  + 2.819s
14.  Hiroshi Aoyama      Gresini Honda   1m34.838s  + 2.977s
15.  Katsuyuki Nakasuga  Yamaha          1m35.999s  + 4.138s
16.  Josh Hayes          Tech 3 Yamaha   1m36.042s  + 4.181s