All three MotoGP classes were met with heavy rainfall and torrid conditions for qualifying at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring, during which Repsol Honda Team's Casey Stoner made use of a briefly drying track in the final minutes to snatch pole position in the premier-class ahead of Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa. Stoner, who had suffered an engine fault at the start of the session, left it very late to set a time in the high 1.31s, which was just enough to displace Yamaha Factory Racing's Spies onto second on the grid. Completing the front row is Stoner's teammate Dani Pedrosa, who had been the early pace setter throughout yesterday's free practice. Row two is headed by Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow, who also pulled some terrific laps out of the bag in the final minutes of qualifying. Yamaha's joint-championship leader Lorenzo starts in fifth, and will be hoping for a good start in tomorrow's race to do battle with Stoner at the front. Lorenzo had been one of the riders completing the most laps in the session, yet admitted to making a mistake using up too much tyre before the final hot laps began. Lining up next to him is LCR Honda MotoGP's local favourite Stefan Bradl, who had led the majority of the session, yet still managed to put in a great showing for his home crow in sixth. Heading up the third row is Ducati Team's Nicky Hayden, who had been looking like a front row contender in the early part of the session, yet was pushed down the order in the final seconds. Next to him in eighth is Crutchlow's teammate Andrea Dovizioso after a somewhat subdued qualifying session for the Italian's standards. Ducati's Valentino Rossi is a surprise starter in ninth, as the wet conditions have usually favoured the Italian this season. He sighted set-up issues with his bike, which he hopes to rectify before the race. Power Electronics Aspar's Aleix Espargaró completes the top ten after a great outing on his ART machine, qualifying as the top CRT bike. Because of the penalty obtained after his crash in the last race in Assen, San Carlo Honda Gresini's Álvaro Bautista will start tomorrow's race from the back of the grid. The tricky conditions caught out many of the riders, which saw San Carlo's Michele Pirro, Came IodaRacing Project's Danilo Petrucci, Speed Master's Mattia Pasini and Pramac Racing Team's Héctor Barberá crash out. Most of them managed to re-join later in the session and sustained no serious injuries.
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