The last rider to win a race on pole was Stoner's Ducati teammate, Loris Capirossi, in Japan in 2006.

"I don't believe in all these sort of jinxes," said Stoner, who captured his second pole of the season. "Since Loris was the last to win from pole on a Ducati, I figure that is a green card to finish off that thing. Also, often riders who started from pole haven't had competitive tires during the race."

Stoner, the championship leader, was fastest in three practice sessions Friday and Saturday. He then took the pole for Sunday's race at the Sachsenring with a lap of 1 minute, 22.384 seconds.

Looking for his sixth win this year, Stoner edged Honda rider Dani Pedrosa by .004 seconds, with Marco Melandri completing the front row.

Stoner consistently bettered rival Valentino Rossi's qualifying times on the second half of the course. The Sachsenring straightens out after riders deal with some of the most twisting narrow curves on the circuit at the start.

Rossi, the seven-time world champion, pulled into the pit with 10 minutes left in qualifying and settled for sixth place with a time of 1:22.605. However, he has won before from back in the grid.

The Italian started 11th in Aasen two weeks ago and caught Stoner to win the Dutch GP, which narrowed the Australian's lead in the standings to 21 points halfway through the season. Rossi also won last year's German GP from 11th on the grid.

Defending world champion Nicky Hayden will start from 14th after problems with his Honda, including a blown engine in Friday's practice session.

In the 250cc category, Mika Kallio of Finland took the pole on a KTM, followed by Andrea Dovizioso of Italy on a Honda, Alex de Angelis of San Marino on a Aprilia and Spain's Jorge Lorenzo, who leads the world title standings.

In the 125cc class, Garbor Talmacsi of Hungary earned pole on his Aprilia, followed by Mattia Pasini of Italy, Hector Faubel of Spain and Bradley Smith of Britain. IHT