Fiat Yamaha Team's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Yamaha Racing) » More Photos

While Rossi and Hayden contemplate a plan to try and stop Stoner, there is no such problem for young Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. By the time the race starts at 2:00pm tomorrow afternoon Pedrosa will already be home in Barcelona. He withdrew from the race after just one day of practice because of pain from his fractured left wrist and index finger.

Pedrosa suffered the injuries in last Sunday's German GP. Only Rossi appears to be a threat to Stoner and the Italian carries a 20-point margin in to the race.

When asked if he had any concerns at all Stoner simply said, "None, I'm very happy, very confident going into the race."

Despite his strong qualifying run before the home fans Hayden was one second off Stoner's pace in race trim and is hoping for a warmer race day to maximize tire performance.

"When we picked our tires there was a lot of disagreement on what (Michelin) wanted in my allocation and what I put in my allocation," Hayden said. "The race will be really tough; Casey's on fire right now and we're having a few little issues, the warmer the better for our tires. To fight with Casey will be a long shot."

Hayden was forced to used an intermediate wet weather tire in the morning free practice session to find a compound soft enough to generate heat and grip.

Edwards needed pain-killing injections to relieve neck pain from last Sunday's crash in Germany and was troubled by the notorious Laguna bumps but hopes for a smoother run in the he race.

"My head was bouncing around all over the place on the bumps," Edwards said. "I'm just hanging on in some places and in the last two sections I'm terrible. I really want a good result for my home fans so I'll be giving it everything."

Briton James Toseland, fifth on the second row, delivered his best qualifying performance since the opening race in Qatar where he started second. Ahead of Toseland is Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo who starts fourth with Frenchman Randy de Puniet (Honda) sixth.

Back in eighth place on the grid is Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen who was unable to improve on his consistent race tire pace which put him fourth in free practice. Vermeulen finished second here last year to Stoner.

Conditions have been unseasonably cool with misty morning fog clearing to sunny afternoons.

Laguna Seca is typically an intense race; there is no place to relax, and the 32 laps will be a challenge for riders and tires. Rossi says his main hopes rest with a good start and being able to run with Stoner out front