Injured Stoner still takes Valencia pole

Despite a painful wrist problem Casey Stoner was still able to set a blistering time in qualifying at Valencia ahead of Dani Pedrosa who qualified second at his home circuit.

Mixed weather conditions saw riders using their qualifying tyres ahead of the usual last ten minutes dash when they were fearful of rain stopping the session early.

However, the rain never arrived and most noticeably Valentino Rossi was left without a qualifying tyre to put on his bike at the end of the session, having used all of his allocation earlier, and had to settle for tenth place.

Lorenzo had a nightmare of a session, when problems with the suspension saw his bike being stripped in the paddock. He eventually got out on track and managed to qualify in seventh place.

Michelin riders did very well with Hayden qualifying in third place on the grid, Colin Edwards fourth and team mate James Toseland fifth.

Hayden set some great lap times early on in the sessions and showed the fans his dirt-track experience with several spectacular slides. Hayden no doubt will be hoping for a good result this weekend it being his final race on a Honda before he starts testing next seasons Ducati on Monday.