Stoner happy despite missing pole

Championship leader Stoner looked set for pole after usurping long-time provisional polesitter Carlos Checa, and then seeing Valentino Rossi fail to improve on third.

But Rossi's Yamaha teammate Edwards produced a time 0.090 seconds quicker than Stoner's best to snatch the top spot with the last flying lap of the session.

"I was pretty confident that I didn't have it wrapped up," Stoner told BBC television.

"I made a mistake on the last corner and ran wide, that probably lost me a tenth or two. So I was pretty sure somebody would be able to pull it out of the bag."

Stoner said he was not concerned about losing pole as he is extremely confident about the Ducati's race pace.

"Qualifying's not my strong point, we've just been getting some pretty solid positions this year, and here's another one," he said.

"We've been getting good starts all year so hopefully tomorrow we can get another good jump, and our race tyres and race set-up for tomorrow are looking really, really strong, so I'm pretty happy."

Although Stoner has yet to take a pole position this season, he has won three of the four races held so far.