LCR Honda rider Casey Stoner will start from seventh position on the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s Turkey Grand Prix. Stoner and factory HRC rider Nicky Hayden were the only two Honda riders to qualify in the leading for the third round of the MotoGP championship.

Hayden posted the second fastest time for a front row start with pole position going to Stoner’s fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen. In cold and wet conditions with a track temperature of just 15 degrees, Stoner set his fastest time of 2’07.277 on his penultimate lap of the qualifying session. Stoner moved forward from 11th to seventh on the grid in the final minute of qualifying.

The morning free practice session was also run in wet conditions which provided Stoner and the LCR team with a valuable opportunity to assess set-up options on the water-logged track.

“I am happy because Casey and the team did a good job working on the set-up through both sessions in the rain today. Casey was again impressive to be the second Honda rider in the top group. Today was very important opportunity to learn and understand the bike and tyres in wet and slippery conditions.”

“The track conditions were terrible this afternoon and I struggled for rear-end grip so we still need to improve the set-up for race, especially if it is raining. I couldn’t get the rear tyre to hook-up and drive forward and hopefully we can find a set-up that will give me more feedback from the tyres. At one stage I followed Chris Vermeulen and looked good, riding like he was on a 250cc bike.”