Aug 16, 2008 - Defending champion Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) defied the heavy rains and heavy head cold to take his sixth straight pole position of the season at the Brno Automotodrom. Stoner went out on track early - when the rain was at its lightest, and set a 2:11.657. Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha), how also went out early in the session, got the 2nd fast time - but was still over one second slower than the Australian.

John Hopkins (Kawasaki Racing) continuned his good weekend after a hiatus due to injury - he'll start on the first row, just clipping the known 'wet skills' of Chris Vermuelen (Rizla Suzuki). Alex de Angelis (Gresini Honda) is the highest satellite ride - despite not have the newest 2009 satellite spec bike of his teammate Nakano. Anthony West (Kawasaki Racing) showcased his wet riding ability by setting an extraordinary time just 2.4 secs off pole despite riding in the hardest raining period of the qualifying period.

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - Pole position
We went out at the start and tried to basically put a good few laps together because we still didn't really know what weather was going to do. It looked like it might clear up but it actually did the opposite. I still wasn't totally happy with the set-up so I came in to make some changes but when we went back out there was two or three inches of standing water in some places and the bike was aquaplaning everywhere. We knew that as long as the rain kept coming as it did then nobody was going to be able to go much quicker because the track conditions were so difficult. Once again we have worked well together as a team, Bridgestone have given us some excellent rain tyres and we're on pole, so that is very satisfying. The points are not dished out until tomorrow and anything can happen, especially in the wet, so we'll just stay focused, stay relaxed, and hope the weather stays dry!

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 2nd
I hope that we are in good shape for tomorrow, if it's wet or dry. For sure though, like everyone else, I hope it will be dry because the conditions today were really terrible! After twenty minutes this afternoon there was too much water and it was impossible to improve the setting of the bike or the time, so I am glad I was able to do some good laps at the beginning. I think I can be more competitive in the dry, because also we have a few modifications to try, so hopefully it will be dry all day tomorrow to give us the best chance. Let's keep hoping and see how we go!

John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing - 3rd
I am very happy with that. We played it exactly right and took a gamble at the beginning of the session, which meant we could put in a decent lap time before it began to rain harder. I made a little mistake on my fastest lap, but I didn't want to push my knee too hard; today is only a small percentage of the weekend, so we took it easy in the latter part of the session. I am pleased for myself, but also for Kawasaki, as huge improvements have been made on the bike since I last rode it at Assen. The Bridgestone tyres are working really well too at this circuit and I feel confident for tomorrow whatever the conditions. Our aim is for a top five finish as I want to be realistic about what we can achieve, but we've definitely put ourselves in a great position for the race.

Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 4th
It was very different today compared to yesterday, which was good really because the forecast is a bit up and down for the race so at least we have had the chance to get some set-up time in both conditions. From this morning's wet session to this afternoon's qualifying it was very different because at the start of this afternoon it was much wetter, but there was still a lot of grip out there and I managed to get a few reasonably quick laps in and made quite a good time. I had to come in and make a change - which was quite lengthy - and when I went back out the conditions had deteriorated so much that I came straight back in. I'm in fourth place on the grid and really happy with that and it gives me a good opportunity in whatever conditions tomorrow to get away at the front. I hope it is fine and we can have a strong race and fight for another podium.

Alex De Angelis - Gresini Honda - 5th
I'm satisfied with this result - I've been waiting for a while for a wet qualifying session so that I could get a better starting position. We worked really well today - we were fast from free practice this morning and in the afternoon, with a few modifications to the bike, we made further improvements. That gave me confidence and I was able to show that even on a really wet track I can be very fast too. I'm also confident about the race because we've found the right feeling with the front. In any case it will be important to get a good start, to make sure I don't lose any positions and to have a good race.

Anthony West - Kawasaki Racing - 6th
I really didn't expect to improve my time on our last lap, so the final result has been a real confidence boost. The conditions worsened throughout the session and there was a lot of standing water around the circuit, so the bike was aquaplaning in a lot of places. I was struggling to see and I got held up on my final lap on a soft tyre, but we still managed to move up a further three places. We've made a lot of improvements to the set-up of the machine, and although I'm not really sure how this will fair in the dry, starting from sixth means we're in a strong position for the race.

Randy De Puniet - LCR Honda - 7th
This is a good result for me and the Team because we were not very fast in these conditions especially this morning. We made some adjustments to the bike setting and the feeling with the tyres improved a lot in the afternoon but was impossible to do better than this. At the end I lost the second row but I do not feel worried about that. I am the first Michelin rider on the grid in these conditions and this is positive. The weather forecast for tomorrow is for dry conditions so we must use the 20-minute warm up session to find the right front tyre for the race.

Shinya Nakano - Gresini Honda - 8th
Riding a new bike in conditions like today without enough time to test it properly isn't easy, but I was satisfied with the lap times we managed in the first session, when the track wasn't as slippery. Third row on the grid isn't bad but tomorrow it will be important to get a good start and to ride to the best of my ability. My objective is to have a good first race on this bike, improve on our best result so far this season and at the same time provide Honda and my team with lots of useful data.

Loris Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki - 9th
The qualifying today was a bit strange because at the start I was doing really well and thought I could get a good position, but I made a mistake and crashed and because of that I missed the best time on the track to go fast, before it got too wet. I stayed in the pit for a long time waiting for it to get better and when I went out at the end I tried a new rear tyre but that didn't work that well so I couldn't go any quicker. I am on the third row which is not so bad and now I want to see what we can do in the race, because if it is wet or dry I know we can be competitive!

Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Ducati - 10th
Also today we have found some small problem with the bike. At the beginning I didn't risk too much thinking that the track would have dry out but instead it got even worst and I had to chase for the rest of the qualifying session when the track looked like a river. At the end of the session we have found a good compromise that allowed me to enter the top ten.

Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro - 11th
I know this is my best qualifying result of the season but I was hoping for better given that in the wet this morning we did such a good job. Unfortunately in the afternoon I didn't have such a good feeling over the first few laps with the power delivery and then the conditions deteriorated. I stayed out on track and got quite a long run together, trying to improve and we made up some positions. We'll see - tomorrow should be dry but I'm still expecting a difficult race because we didn't get chance to improve the front-end setting today, which is what we'd planned.

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 12th
I wore a heavier strapping on my left hand today, for better support, but anyway the cold weather gave me more pain. The track was very wet this afternoon. I tried to improve my lap time, even though the rain got heavier, but I couldn't improve, so I will start the race from the fourth row. Of course, I'm not happy about starting from there, because it won't help us in the race. If the race is run in the dry I hope we will have a dry warm-up so that we can work on our suspension set-up and tyre choice. If it is dry in the morning we will work hard to make improvements so we can have the best-possible race.

Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 13th
We haven't be so lucky with the track conditions, we thought that it would have got better lap after lap, but the rain has increased complicating our work. We have improved compare to other days with similar atmospheric conditions, but surely not enough. We have done what was possible and tomorrow we will have to start in the best way to overtake as many riders as possible like it happened in the last Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

Andrea Dovizioso - JiR Scot Honda - 14th
Today was a day that just worked against us. Because of bad weather we were unable to carry out the test programme during the qualifications, and placing us in a position where we must fight to redeem a result that does not represent our potential. With the rain ever more intense I found it very difficult to find any grip, and too much time was lost to have any chance of catching the riders who recorded the best lap time in the initial laps. Tomorrow will be a tough race. I am determined to get the most out of the tyres at our disposal. We will have to do our best to interpret the weather conditions which are forecast to be changable, with the possibility of a dry race.

Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech 3 - 15th
It was very tough out there, and that's all I can really say. Starting from where I am it is going to be a very difficult race. But as always I will give it my best shot for Tech 3 and Yamaha. The conditions were really tough out there and to be honest we didn't expect so much rain that fell in the last part of the session. I started the session on a rear tyre that was probably too hard but we needed to get out and get some information for Michelin. By the time I'd put the softer tyre in the rain was unbelievable. That didn't help my situation but I'm not sure I could have improved a lot more if the rain was less and it would have been easy to take too many risks and crash. But it was a bit like Germany a few weeks ago when I had a few issues in the wet race. I was just trying to find consistent grip that gave me the confidence to push and I was lacking in that area. If it is dry tomorrow like the forecasts say then hopefully we can get some good information in the warm-up and put up a good fight in the race.

James Toseland - Yamaha Tech 3 - 16th
It is has been a very difficult day for me and the Tech 3 Yamaha team, but rest assured I'll wake up tomorrow and I will be going out rain or shine giving it my maximum effort as I always do. I am not going to throw the towel in no matter how difficult it gets. I think it is obvious looking at the lap times where the problems are, but I'm not going to complain about anybody. It is my job to go out there and do the best job on the package I have got right now and that's what I will do. But if not all of the elements of the package come together then it becomes very difficult. The crash at the first corner there was really nothing I could do. I wasn't trying to make up big chunks of time because it was impossible in those conditions and I went down for no reason and that is disappointing. We'll see what happens tomorrow but the rain will have made the track dirty again and that could make it difficult for the slick tyres if the race is dry. I don't like starting from the back but if I can get a good start, hopefully I can get away with the bunch and have a good race.

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 17th
It's been a bad day! At the start of the qualifying it was drier and this is when I was in the garage trying to improve the bike with my team; I missed my chance and this is when the others set their fastest laps. I have had days almost as bad as this before, but I have to say that the fault is not all mine. I think that it is evident at the moment that our tyres are not working as they should. I am a professional however and I have to wait and have confidence in Michelin to find the right way forward. For tomorrow it's going to be important to get a good start and try to get in the top ten. The surface is very good but we don't have the grip we need, so whatever happens with the weather, it will be very hard.

2008 Czech MotoGP Qualifying Times
 1.  Stoner      Ducati    (B)  2:11.657
 2.  Rossi       Yamaha    (B)  2:12.846
 3.  Hopkins     Kawasaki  (B)  2:12.959
 4.  Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  2:13.002
 5.  de Angelis  Honda     (B)  2:13.352
 6.  West        Kawasaki  (B)  2:14.064
 7.  de Puniet   Honda     (M)  2:14.535
 8.  Nakano      Honda     (B)  2:14.718
 9.  Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  2:14.805
10.  Guintoli    Ducati    (B)  2:14.861
11.  Melandri    Ducati    (B)  2:15.880
12.  Pedrosa     Honda     (M)  2:16.032
13.  Elias       Ducati    (B)  2:16.510
14.  Dovizioso   Honda     (M)  2:17.632
15.  Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  2:20.074
16.  Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  2:23.303
17.  Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  2:23.701

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