Sydney - Local lad Casey Stoner on Saturday finished top of the timesheets at the Phillip Island track to claim pole position for Ducati at the Australian MotoGP. World champion Valentino Rossi was fastest in preliminary qualifying but the flamboyant Italian was pipped for top spot in the closing minutes of the official qualifying session.
Honda's Dani Pedrosa will start on the front row alongside Stoner and Rossi after coming in third quickest. Fourth spot went to Rossi's Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
It was Stoner's first pole since the season-opener in Qatar and sets him up for a possible third consecutive MotoGP win at Melbourne's Philip Island.
A win on Sunday would be the 24-year-old's first victory coming off a 10-week lay-off forced on him by a mystery illness. Stoner finished second in Portugal two weeks ago.
Lorenzo, who blamed his poor time on a bout of food poisoning, trails Rossi by 18 points in the series.
