Stoner takes commanding Qatar pole

Casey Stoner took a dominant season-opening pole position in Qatar, ahead of tomorrow night's motorcycling Grand Prix

The Ducati Marlboro rider never looked under pressure from the other riders and led almost exclusively throughout the 45-minute qualifying session, to end up with a time of 1:55.286.

Best of the rest was reigning champion Valentino Rossi, who managed to close to within half a second of Stoner in the final seconds of the session, along with his Fiat Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo in third spot.

Andrea Dovizioso leads the second row of the grid with his Repsol Honda, followed by Loris Capirossi's Rizla Suzuki and Colin Edwards's Tech 3 Yamaha.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda), Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and Alex de Angelis (Gresini Honda) round up the third row.

Mika Kallio, on the Pramac-run Ducati, was best of the rookies with his tenth-fastest time.

Thanks to his 11th spot on the grid, Marco Melandri on the Hayate Kawasaki has already equalled his best starting position from last year on the works Ducati.

Injured Dani Pedrosa qualified 14th with his Repsol Honda, followed by the Hernando Ducati of returnee Sete Gibernau and the Ducati Marlboro of Nicky Hayden, who had a massive high-side just when time ran out and required medical attention at the scene.

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    1m55.286s
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    1m55.759s  + 0.473s
 3.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    1m55.783s  + 0.497s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     1m55.977s  + 0.691s
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    1m56.149s  + 0.863s
 6.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    1m56.194s  + 0.908s
 7.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     1m56.358s  + 1.072s
 8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    1m56.493s  + 1.207s
 9.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     1m56.790s  + 1.504s
10.  Mika Kallio       Ducati    1m56.852s  + 1.566s
11.  Marco Melandri    Kawasaki  1m56.962s  + 1.676s
12.  Toni Elias        Honda     1m57.225s  + 1.939s
13.  James Toseland    Yamaha    1m57.510s  + 2.224s
14.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     1m57.729s  + 2.443s
15.  Sete Gibernau     Ducati    1m57.899s  + 2.613s
16.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati    1m58.215s  + 2.929s
17.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda     1m58.784s  + 3.498s
18.  Niccolo Canepa    Ducati    1m58.999s  + 3.713s