Suzuka 8 Hours: Casey Stoner qualifies in third position for Japanese classic
AUSSIE Casey Stoner will begin his first competitive bike race in nearly three years from third position after a stellar qualifying performance in suzuka
AUSTRALIA’S Casey Stoner has qualified his HARC Pro Honda bike in third position for Sunday’s Suzuka 8 Hours race in Japan.
The two-time MotoGP champion, sharing a bike with Takumi Takahashi and Michael van der Mark on his return to competitive motorcycle racing, clocked a time of 2m06.335s during Saturday’s final qualifying session.
Stoner’s class was on show for all to see during his flying top 10 Superpole lap, which was 1.3 seconds quicker than Takahashi had managed in the all-in qualifying session previously.
Yamaha MotoGP rider Pol Espargaro set the fastest time of the final session, with a lap of 2m06.000 securing pole for the manufacturer on its return to the event. Kawasaki’s Kazuki Watanabe split Espargaro and Stoner in second.
The bike of Stoner’s fellow Aussie Josh Waters will start from fourth after his teammate Takuya Tsuda laid down a time of 2:06.516, while Josh Hook (6th) and Troy Herfoss and Jason O’Halloran (9th) also saw their teammates secure top 10 positions.
Agonisingly close to the top 10 was the Yamaha of Broc Parkes, which will start from 11th, while Phil Czaj’s Suzuki will begin from 30th position.
Originally published as Suzuka 8 Hours: Casey Stoner qualifies in third position for Japanese classic