Pole start for 2-bike Stoner

CASEY STONER fought back from a mechanical problem to snatch his fourth pole of the campaign with a last lap thriller ahead of this afternoon’s German eighth round of World MotoGP at the Sachsenring.

The Aussie had set the early pace and looked in no trouble, despite the rain but then his Repsol Honda cut-out and he had to run his second bike for the rest of the session.

Reigning champion Stoner, above, said: “I was accelerating out of a corner when the engine cut, it may have been the wet “I had to switch bikes. “But we ended up with pole, which I was not really expecting.”

In a hectic finale Stoner was 0.193secs faster than American Ben Spies followed by Spain’s Dani Pedrosa.

Meanwhile, Tommy Hill romped to an easy victory in yesterday’s first race of the sixth round of MCE Insurance British Superbikes at Oulton Park.

Now the reigning champion is in the mood to complete a hat-trick in today’s two races at the Cheshire circuit.

Hill made good use of his pole start, leading throughout the race on the Swan Yamaha.

His task was made easier when Michael Laverty tipped out of second place at Brittens on the fourth lap.

Shane Byrne swerved to miss the stricken Samsung Honda and bashed into Josh Brookes, but both continued.

Hill pulled away as Byrne resumed the chase with Brookes in close contention.