Stoner satisfied with second on grid

Stoner had been top of the timesheets for much of the wet session but Vermeulen timed his run to perfection to take the pole spot just before a major downpour soaked the track even more.

Although a few riders managed to improve in the closing seconds of the session, once the rain had eased off, Stoner stayed in the pits. Afterwards, he made it clear that he was happy enough to be on the front row.

"I came in to try the harder rear (wet) but unfortunately I couldn't get it to work too well, so I came back in," said the Australian, who has a 26-point lead over Valentino Rossi in the title chase.

"It started to rain harder and I knew I was going to be on the front row or thereabouts. That was good enough for me, so there was no point pushing around and trying to get a better time."

With Stoner having been quick in both the dry and wet conditions, the Ducati Marlboro rider said he was not worried which way the weather was for tomorrow's race.

"This morning we really came up with a good dry setting and we have been quick with dry settings," he explained. "This morning we made an extra step though.

"We've been quick with a race tyre, still within 0.4 seconds of my best time on the race tyre. So we look very strong for the race.

"If it is wet, the soft tyre works well for us. It looks like they will last the distance. I tried a harder one but it didn't quite work for us, so we'll have to see what the weather brings tomorrow."

Stoner also played down an early session scare when he had a bit of a wild moment after his rear tyre touched one of the white lines at the end of the track.

"I could not see through the screen at all, so I didn't know where the edge of the track was. I slightly touched it with the rear tyre, and had a bit of a moment. But it looked a lot worse than it felt. I feel reasonably comfortable."