World champion Casey Stoner will start the Dutch TT from pole position after a thrilling qualifying session in Assen. The Australian Ducati rider set a lap record of 1:35.520 to edge out Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, with Yamaha star Valentino Rossi completing the front row in third place.
Britain’s James Toseland showed impressive pace at times but had to make do with 13th place, meaning he will start from the fith row of the grid. American Nicky Hayden, a winner in the Netherlands two years ago, was fourth fastest for Honda ahead of French LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet and American Colin Edwards on a Yamaha.
Rossi leads the championship with 162 points after eight races, 11 points ahead of Pedrosa with Stoner on 117. The session was marred by a serious high-speed crash for Kawasaki rider John Hopkins late in the session.
The American did not appear to be moving when medics carried him away from the scene but retained consciousness. It was later revealed that he broke his left ankle in the incident, and is extremely unlikely to take part in the rest of the weekend’s action. (Alex Chick / Eurosport)
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