Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner took pole position at Donington Park ahead of tomorrow's British MotoGP. It was his second of the season.

Qualifications were held in harsh weather as rain kept falling for at least the first half of the session and wet conditions prevail the entire hour.

Current champion Stoner's best lap of 1:38.232 was over six tenths faster than second quickest Valentino Rossi with his Fiat Yamaha, who won the battle for second-best by 0.137 seconds over Vermeulen.

Impressive run for Ben Spies who is replacing injured Loris Capirossi as he finished 8th in front of Dani Pedrosa.

Another disastrous session for Casey Stoner's teammate Marco Melandri, who finished in 15th spot, as well as Tech 3's James Toseland, who had two separate crashes at the end of the session to qualify 16th, and Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo whose return from injury saw him qualify only 17th.

Qualifying results:
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:38.232
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:38.881 + 0.649
3. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:39.018 + 0.786
4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:39.270 + 1.038
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:39.601 + 1.369
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:39.783 + 1.551
7. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:39.995 + 1.763
8. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) 1:40.244 + 2.012
9. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:40.350 + 2.118
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:40.417 + 2.185
11. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:40.539 + 2.307
12. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:40.595 + 2.363
13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:40.667 + 2.435
14. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:41.110 + 2.678
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:41.379 + 3.147
16. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:41.751 + 3.519
17. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:41.873 + 3.641
18. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:42.933 + 4.701