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Casey Stoner of Ducati took pole position for the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island as newly-crowned world champion Valentino Rossi finished 12th after a crash.

Local star Stoner, who will have surgery at the end of the season to fix a broken bone in his wrist, finished top of the timesheets for the eighth time this season with one minute and 28.665 seconds after several riders swapped P1.

Rossi's Fiat Yamaha team-mate, rookie Jorge Lorenzo, was second with 1:28.731 ahead of American Nicky Hayden (1:28.756) on the Repsol Honda in sunny conditions.

LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet (1:25.808) took a shock fourth ahead of Briton James Toseland (1:29.031) of Tech 3 Yamaha and Hayden's team-mate Dani Pedrosa (1:29.277).

Stoner and Pedrosa were the only Bridgestone-shod riders in the top eight.

"We struggled a little bit this morning with race set-up so we needed this afternoon to sort things out and get the bike working properly on a race tyre," Stoner said afterwards.

"Once we did that I felt pretty confident that we could stick a qualifying tyre in and put a good lap together.

"I thought the lap time would be good enough for a front row start but we ended up on pole position so I'm surprised and extra happy today.

"This is my home race but there is no pressure on us and I just want to enjoy it."

Rossi left the track at around 150 mph with 15 minutes remaining in the session. He was unable to turn on the slippery grass as he continued parallel to the tarmac.

He went into a gravel trap and was dumped off his bike before the approaching tyre wall.

"Unfortunately I went too wide at turn two and I came onto the grass on the exit," Rossi said.

"I thought I could take the bike back on to the track but as soon as I touched the muddy grass I lost control and couldn't stop it.

"Then I bumped my head and neck pretty hard when I landed in the gravel... I will have treatment on my neck and then rest [and] tomorrow I am sure I will feel a lot better."

The 29-year-old superstar suffered slight whiplash and damage to his neck muscles, but is expected to start on Sunday.

Despite his injuries he went back out after a check-up for a final stab at improving his grid position - but did not have time to begin a flying lap.

Rossi, whose fifth straight victory in the last round at Motegi secured a sixth premier class crown and eighth overall, was 10th at the time of the crash. He slipped to 12th by the end of the session.

Colin Edwards of Tech 3 and rookie Andrea Dovizioso of JiR Team Scot had appeared in P1 as well as Hayden and Lorenzo during the second half of the hour - they were forced down into seventh and eighth on the grid.

Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis of Honda Gresini followed them while the other rider to start ahead of Italian star Rossi is his compatriot Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki.

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Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport