Stoner in confident mood

The 21-year-old Australian failed to take pole position at the Losail circuit for the second year running by just five thousandths of a second on his Ducati after Valentino Rossi&'s gargantuan effort to take the top spot.

But, speaking after the session, Stoner said he feels like everything is a long way from being lost.

Stoner told Eurosport: "I went into the session thinking a [a spot on the] front two rows would do me, but we got on front row so I'm happy.

"I had some pretty good races, but to be honest getting pole here then was a bit of a fluke. This time we were aiming for it and we're ready to run up at the front."

Stoner, who beat his vastly more experienced team-mate Loris Capirossi by five places, declared himself well and truly ready to fight for his first Moto GP victory on Saturday.

He is especially happy having collected a huge amount of data from a race simulation run he completed in morning practice.

"On race tyres we're very happy. We did a race simulation today so I'm really confident for tomorrow."