July 16, 2011 -- Updated 1727 GMT (0127 HKT)
Casey Stoner is in line for his fifth victory of the season after taking pole for Sunday's German MotoGP.
(CNN) -- World championship leader Casey Stoner claimed his sixth pole position of the season by qualifying fastest for Sunday's German MotoGP at Sachsenring.
Australian Stoner, who has already won four races so far this season, clocked a time of one minute 21.681 seconds to finish ahead of fellow-Honda rider Dani Pedrosa.
World champion Jorge Lorenzo is third on the grid alongside Marco Simoncelli, who could only go fourth quickest despite leading the timesheets in Friday's practice.
Stoner, who was one of a number of riders to crash on Friday, told the official MotoGP website: "The lap times are very close here so it will be a tough race and hard to take any real advantage.
"However, I'm very happy and positive we can still improve again tomorrow so thanks to all my team for a great job."
Second-placed Pedrosa was also happy with his qualifying performance as he continues his comeback from a broken collarbone suffered at the French Grand Prix in May.
"I like this circuit, because it runs anti-clockwise, and because we are therefore going in the oppposite direction to what we normally do. It means there is less of a strain on my shoulder."
He added: "Casey is very strong but I hope to be ready to fight for the victory with him. I think the fans will see a great race as there are a lot of riders who can fight for the win."
But there was further disappointment for seven-times world champion Valentino Rossi, who suffered another nightmare afternoon.
The Italian, who also crashed during Friday practice, was only 16th fastest, meaning he will start last but one on the grid.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
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