A new lap record was set up by the world champion Casey Stoner and took pole position for Sunday US MotoGP at the Laguna Seca circuit.  

The Ducati rider who set the time one minute 20.700 seconds is looking for his fourth successive win of the season. The lap record is two seconds faster than was set by him last year.

Honda’s Nicky Harden completed the first row of the grid though Yamaha's Valentino Rossi was the second quickest and was slower by 0.447s.                                                    

In California circuit, Britain’s James Toseland appeared in fifth position at the time of 1:21:848s.

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who suffered from injuries on his left wrist during the last race in Germany, has withdrawn his name from the race.