Stoner smashes lap record in Silverstone qualifying

Casey Stoner launches his Repsol Honda to pole position with a record breaking lap time, ahead of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) followed by Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing), all three of whom broke the former circuit lap record in the MotoGP qualifying session at Silverstone. Under darkening skies, Casey Stoner outran the competition to pole position in a spellbinding MotoGP qualifying session, setting a new lap record of 2í02.020, over a second faster than last yearís pole position record set by Jorge Lorenzo. Simoncelli ran a close second with a qualifying time of 2.02.208, with Lorenzo in third, 0.029s behind the Italian. The session was a lap record breaking party, starting when Simoncelli leapt to the top with a record breaking lap in the first quarter of practice, followed by Lorenzo at the 30 minute mark with a lap 1.5s faster than his best practice time, then by Stoner, who set a time of 2.02.442, and again by Simoncelli who overtook the lead with a lap of 2.02.389, only to have Stoner set an unstoppable lap that sent him to the front of the field. The rest of the field set far faster times than those of the previous day, with Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) heading the second row for the AirAsia British Grand Prix race with a time of 2í02.677, over a second faster than his best practice time, followed by Stonerís team mate Andrea Dovizioso in fifth with a time of 2í03.212. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) had an early crash at the start of the session, but rejoined after a medical check to finish in 6th, putting his Ducati in the last spot on the second row, with a time of 2.04.151. Nicky Hayden will start in seventh position 0.153s behind Abraham, followed by Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) continued to improve his times while is still recovering from a broken collarbone. ¡lvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) qualified ninth, 0.012s behind Edwards, and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) completed the top ten times with a 2.04.589. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) finished the qualifying session down in 13th, behind Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) in 11th and HÈctor Barber· (Mapfre Aspar) in 12th. The Italian struggled all weekend to find a set up for the GP11 while simultaneously learning his way around the track on the bike. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who thus far had a great weekend, crashed after completing two laps, sustaining a broken collarbone and a concussion. Toni Elias also crashed out of the qualifying in the first half of the session. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) will not be participating in this round as he continues to recover from injuries sustained in the Le Mans round.