Tweet
LE MANS, France: Australian Casey Stoner dominated qualifying for the French Grand Prix on Saturday to take his third pole position in four races.
Stoner, quickest also in practice, led an all-Honda top four with Italians Marco Simoncelli and Andrea Dovizioso joining him on the front row at a dry Le Mans circuit after early morning showers.
The pole in a time of one minute 33.153 seconds, more than a second quicker than the lap record set by Italian Valentino Rossi in 2008, was 2007 champion Stoner's 25th in the top category.
The Australian has yet to win at the Bugatti track, however.
Yamaha's Spanish world champion and overall leader Jorge Lorenzo was fifth fastest, behind compatriot Dani Pedrosa who had started the previous three races this season on the front row but qualified fourth.
"We will try to keep our pace of 34.0 or 34.1 seconds," said Lorenzo, who leads Pedrosa by four points, with Stoner a further 20 adrift. "If we can do this then maybe we can fight for the podium.
"If other riders make some mistakes and are not fast enough and we are a little bit faster then it's possible to fight for more.
"I am optimistic though, I think we are not very far from Pedrosa or Dovizioso and if I can improve my riding and be a bit faster in the race and they struggle a little bit we can be with them," he added.
British MotoGP rookie Cal Crutchlow completed the second row on the Tech3 Yamaha with his best position so far. Rossi will start from ninth place.
Germany's Moto2 championship leader Stefan Bradl took his fourth pole in four races in that series while Nicolas Terol of Spain secured his third of the season in the 125cc class.
