Poleman Stoner sets Sunday morning pace

Casey Stoner laid down the fastest time of the MotoGP Sunday warmup at Brno with a 1´57.204 lap, finally able to let loose once more on a dry Czech Republic track. The Ducati Marlboro rider starts from pole for the latest round of the MotoGP World Championship, aiming to return to winning ways after seeing his consecutive victory run ended at Laguna Seca.

Fellow front row starter Valentino Rossi nearly half a second down on Stoner in the warmup session, second quickest in the 25-minute run. Trailing the leading duo were Chris Vermeulen and Sylvain Guintoli although the pair was nearly two seconds slower than the frontrunners expected to battle for the win once more this afternoon.

Toni Elias and Shinya Nakano upped the Bridgestone tyre representation in the top six, with Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa the fastest Michelin rider in seventh. Front row man John Hopkins was tenth quickest.