Casey Stoner qualifies in pole position for Australian Grand Prix

Casey Stoner dominated qualifying to take pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

The home favourite's Repsol Honda recovered from an early crash to set a fastest time of 1:29.623 seconds to line up ahead of Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.

Fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Britain's Cal Crutchlow will start third and fourth on the grid.

Stoner, who is making his last MotoGP appearance in front of his home fans as he is due to retire at the end of the season, said: "I'm just very happy to be in pole in my home grand prix and hopefully have something to celebrate tomorrow for everybody."

Lorenzo will win a second title if he finishes in the top three of the race ahead of Pedrosa.