Stoner edges Pedrosa for pole 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