Lorenzo on record-breaking pole

In a tight-fought qualifying session at the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Sepang it was Yamaha Factory Racing's Jorge Lorenzo who stormed to a record pole position in front of Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso. The Spaniard's new track record in the low 2.00s, giving him his seventh pole of the year, edged Repsol Honda Team's title rival Dani Pedrosa into second spot on the grid, after the Honda rider had been the fastest in the preceding practices. The last place on the front row went to Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Andrea Dovizioso, who was on blistering pace all session, squeezing the maximum out of his satellite machine. Heading row two in fourth is Pedrosa's teammate Casey Stoner, with the Australian seemingly struggling with bike set-up once more, although qualifying less than half a second off the top. Next to him in fifth, Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow put in a solid performance, yet will no doubt be hoping to mirror his teammate's pace in the race tomorrow. Alongside him in sixth place is Yamaha's Ben Spies, who was on consistent form throughout the session, having recovered from a mistake in the morning, yet could not quite match the speed of the Tech 3 satellite outfit. Pramac Racing Team's Héctor Barberá set the seventh fastest time to occupy the front of the third row, after putting in a phenomenal performance on his Desmosedici. Eighth went to LCR Honda MotoGP's Stefan Bradl, who will be disappointed he is not higher up the grid after showing good form in the previous rounds. Completing row three is Ducati Team's Nicky Hayden in ninth, with the American doing well to recover from a spill in the morning. The final top-ten spot went to San Carlo Honda Gresini's Álvaro Bautista, after a disappointing session for the Spaniard and his team, where he crashed out on his final run. Ducati's Valentino Rossi, who also crashed in the morning practice, looked somewhat out of sorts finishing down in 11th. The CRT grid battle was won by Power Electronics Aspar's Aleix Espargaró, who qualified in 12th just behind Rossi. Avintia Blusens' Yonny Hernandez did not take part in qualifying and will not participate in the race tomorrow, after feeling the effects of his dislocated left shoulder too strongly yesterday. Lorenzo could win his second premier-class title in Malaysia tomorrow, the same track he won his first 2010 title at, due to the fact he has a 28-point lead at the top of the championship standings. He would first of all have to win the race, but would also need a little help from Pedrosa, who could not finish any higher than 13th.

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1350732911-lorenzo-on-record-breaking-pole/

Duilio Agostini Felice Agostini Giacomo Agostini Jack Ahearn Mitsuo Akamatsu