Casey Stoner will start his final home MotoGP race in pole position for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.

Aiming for his sixth successive win at Phillip Island and racing just weeks after surgery on his right ankle, Stoner overcame a crash to clock 1 minute, 29.623 seconds in Saturday's sole qualifying session on the 4.445-kilometer (2.76-mile) circuit.

Stoner, who will retire at the age of 27 at the end of the season, was ahead of Yamaha's championship leader Jorge Lorenzo (1:30.140) and Stoner's Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa (1:30.575).

"I was on my 'out' lap on a hard tire, and the thing just decided to flick me," Stoner said of his crash early in the qualifying session.

"I was very fortunate it didn't come down on my foot. I'm very happy to be on pole considering all that's happened for my home Grand Prix."

Lorenzo leads Pedrosa by 23 points in the championship going into Sunday's race, with the final race of the season scheduled for Valencia, Spain on Nov. 11 The Spaniards are the only two riders who can win the MotoGP title.