Stoner takes pole at German MotoGP

By Iain Rogers

HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany (Reuters) - World championship leader Casey Stoner grabbed his second pole position of the season in a sweltering qualifying session at the German Grand Prix on Saturday.

The Australian, who has a 21-point advantage over Valentino Rossi at the halfway stage of the season, powered his Ducati around the twisting Sacsenring circuit in 1:22:384 seconds, just 0.004 ahead of Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.

Rossi, who came from 11th at the start to win in Germany in 2006 and is going for a third straight win this year, was sixth fastest with a time of 1:22:605, 0.221 off the pace.

Stoner, who has won five of nine races this season, said the conditions in Germany were probably the hottest so far this year and Sunday's 30-lap race was certain to be demanding for riders and machines alike.

"The track is fairly aggressive and the tyres don't last too long before they start to slide around," he said at a news conference.

"There are a lot of changes in direction and ups and downs so the body's gets all the G-forces," he added. "But it's looking good for the race so we'll just see what happens."

Last year's German Grand Prix was the closest top-four finish in MotoGP history, with 0.307 seconds covering the leading quartet across the line.

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