The last qualifying of the season for the MotoGP class saw newly crowned World Champion Casey Stoner put his Repsol Honda on pole again

with a best lap of 1’31.861 to equal the record of 12 pole positions in a single season set by five-time 500cc World Champion Mick Doohan.

Dani Pedrosa was 1.014 seconds behind his team-mate to take the second spot on the starting grid, with Yamaha Factory Racing’s Ben Spies lapping a tenth behind the Spaniard to claim the final spot on the front row.

Pramac Racing’s Randy de Puniet concluded his strong practice performances, just missing a front-row start with a time 0.061s behind Spies placing him on row two for the second time this season. Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) lapped three-tenths behind De Puniet to claim a second row start, with Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) completing the row after setting a best lap of 1'33.478.

Nicky Hayden heads the third row with his Ducati Team Desmosedici after pacing a tenth behind his Italian team-mate. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) starts next to the American on the eighth grid position after setting a time just over a tenth behind Hayden. The Italian suffered a crash just as the chequered flag was shown but was up and walking away immediately.

Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) suffered a mechanical failure in the early part of the one hour qualifying. The Spaniard was able to get aboard his spare bike to finish the session in ninth which puts him in the final spot on row three for Sunday’s race. Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) completed the top ten, with Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Pramac Racing’s Loris Capirossi, who sports the number 58 on his machine in honour of Marco Simoncelli, joining the Czech rider on row four.

Moto2
The Moto2 session was packed full of stories with Stefan Bradl being crowned the 2011 World Champion and the Gresini Team’s Michele Pirro and Yuki Takahashi taking the top two spots on the grid.

Viessmann Kiefer Racing’s Bradl set the fourth fastest time just before the rain flag came out, and with Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) not riding in the session and not participating in the GP on Sunday, the German rider officially claimed the 2011 Moto2 Championship title.

Gresini riders Pirro and Takahashi, riding with special liveries in tribute to Marco Simoncelli, took pole position and second spot on the grid respectively giving the team a fitting double front-row start in a weekend in which the late Simoncelli is being remembered by all in the paddock. The two were separated by just 0.009s, with Pirro setting the session leading lap of 1'37.067.

Most of the field elected to sit out for the remainder of the session, which stayed as it was before rain soaked the track, with Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) taking third position with a lap four-tenths behind Takahashi. Bradl in fourth was three-tenths off Kallio, with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) in fifth ahead of Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2).

Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP), Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) and Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) comprise row three, with Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) completing the top ten ahead of Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) and Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing).

125cc
Mahindra Racing’s Danny Webb will start the last ever 125cc GP from pole position after setting the fastest lap of 1’45.898, four-tenths ahead of the rest of the field, in an exciting qualifying held in mixed conditions as light showers left the Ricardo Tormo circuit in varying degrees of dampness, with a dry line forming in the last 10 minutes.

Louis Rossi (Matteoni Racing) starts from second on the grid in his maiden front row qualifying. The Frenchman’s time of 1’46.325 was over 1.5s faster than third place starter and compatriot Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo).

Zarco’s front row will give him the advantage he needs if he is to challenge Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar) in Sunday’s race. The Championship leader and favourite qualified in ninth position with a time of 1'48.920, and will need to finish 11th or higher if Zarco wins the race to claim his first World title.

Fourth place on the grid is Luis Salom (RW Racing GP), who just edged Alexis Masbou (Caretta Technology Forward Team) to take the head of row two. Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) completes row two after lapping just 0.005s behind Frenchman Masbou.

Row three is headed by Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), who currently leads rookie Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing) by just two points in the battle for third in the Championship. Viñales starts just next to the German on the grid after setting a lap 0.025s behind him on the drying track. Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) completed the top ten times, lapping half a second slower than Terol.

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