Dani Pedrosa was in awesome form. The Honda rider led from start to finish, leaving his rivals struggling to match his pace during the 30 lap event run in cool, windy conditions. Starting from the front row of the grid the local hero took just three laps to open a 2.1 second gap over his pursuers, using the speed of his RC212V to maximum advantage (Pedrosa was fastest through the start/finish speed trap at 316.6km/h).

Casey Stoner will start the final round of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship from the front of the grid after a dominant performance in today’s single qualifying practice for the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana. The Australian was rarely troubled at the top of the time sheets, while his team-mate Nicky Hayden was also impressive as he lapped sixth fastest in a late charge.

Casey Stoner Speaks… (1st; 1’32.256)

Casey Stoner set the pace on the opening day of the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, lapping almost four tenths quicker than his closest rival Jorge Lorenzo. With cool track temperatures of just 17ºC the onus for the riders was on finding grip around the short but technically demanding circuit and despite starting out with a setting he wasn’t comfortable with Stoner worked hard with his mechanics to find a solution by the end of the hour-long free practice.

Casey Stoner Speaks…

Today saw the second and final day of the first test for the Yamaha World Superbike 2010 riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland. Both riders spent a second full day testing their new R1 machines as they worked to bring the settings in line with their riding styles. Having come from Supersport and MotoGP machines both riders have to learn a new bike. Regardless of this they both performed well and were consistently fast over the second day, again riding well below the pace of Sunday’s World Superbike race.

2010 Yamaha World Superbike riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow wasted no time today, getting straight down to business with their first ride on the championship winning R1. Both riders were working with their new teams for the first time, but gelled quickly and had got down to under the race pace of Sunday’s championship final before the end of the first sessions.

Valentino Rossi smashed the pole record at Sepang this afternoon to take his sixth pole position of the season ahead of tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Italian’s first championship ‘match point.’ Jorge Lorenzo recovered from a difficult session to put in some good laps at the end and qualify second, making it the 12th time this year that the Fiat Yamaha Pair have shared the front row.

Casey Stoner Speaks… (1st)

"I’d forgotten how good that winning feeling is and of all my victories this is perhaps the most special. I can honestly say that from a physical perspective I can’t ever remember feeling this strong after a race, which shows that the work we have done and the time we took out has been spot on. I got a good start and was able to put together the lap times to keep us at the front but quite honestly I felt I could have gone even faster if we’d have been able to find a little more rear traction over the course of the weekend.