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Casey Stoner's bid for a fourth successive victory in Qatar will begin from pole position after the Australian set the pace in qualifying for the opening FIM MotoGP World Championship race of the season.
Stoner has traditionally been unbeatable at the Losail circuit and will again be the man to beat in Sunday's race after once again showing his rivals the way under the floodlights at the desert track.
The Australian set a best time of one minute 55.007 seconds to better his pole time of last season by over two-tenths.
Reigning champion Valentino Rossi will line up second on the grid for Fiat Yamaha after setting a time just over three-tenths off the pace of the Ducati Marlboro rider.
Stoner rarely looked in any danger of not taking top spot, although Rossi did have the temerity to snatch provisional pole from him midway through the session before the Ducati man found a few extra tenths to restore the order in his favour.
Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo continued to disperse any lingering concerns over his pace following a hand injury that disrupted his pre-season preparations.
The Spaniard will line up third on the grid after setting a time just over half a second off the pace of the pole-sitter.
LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet rode brilliantly to claim fourth on the grid ahead of a number of factory-backed rivals, his best time of 1min 55.831secs good enough to edge out Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, who will contest his 300th grand prix on Sunday.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) completed the second row in sixth place, while the Italian's team-mate Dani Pedrosa was one place further back.
Colin Edwards will start eighth for Tech 3 Yamaha ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) and FIM 250cc world champion Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda).
