Lorenzo snags fourth straight pole

From motogp.com

Jorge Lorenzo took his fourth consecutive pole of the 2010 MotoGP campaign with the top time in qualifying for the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, setting a fastest lap of 1:21.817 on Saturday.

Lorenzo became the first Yamaha rider since Max Biaggi in 2001 to have achieved four or more successive poles.

“This pole position was very hard because Casey [Stoner] and Dani [Pedrosa] were so fast; I had to push at the maximum and ride really well,” said the Spaniard. “Well done to my team because we have improved so much since yesterday and now I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow."

The Championship leader had a dramatic session, in which an oil spill from his M1 resulted in a red flag after crashes for Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet.

"Since the new engine rule everyone has been starting to feel like these engines never have problems and it was honestly a surprise for me today when I came onto the straight and felt it stop,” said Lorenzo, whose bike dramatically emitted flames as well. “It was so hot and there was oil on my feet so I had to go into the wall. I'm really sorry that Ben and Randy crashed and especially that Randy was slightly injured, it is good news that he will be able to race tomorrow.”

Stoner (Ducati Team) will launch his challenge for a first victory of the season from second place after he finished the session just 0.024 secs. behind Lorenzo, and Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) will also be on the front row as he was the third and final rider under the 1:22 mark.

The Australian was happy with the overall performance of his factory Desmosedici GP10 on Saturday as he lapped consistently in the 1:22 region.

“Everything seemed to go pretty well, we were just slowly working on the set-up and trying to get the harder tire to work, because if the conditions are hot tomorrow we’re going to need them. In general our bike seems to be working pretty well,” said Stoner.

“We would have liked to have been on pole position, I think I would have been fast enough but unfortunately I got held up and wasn’t able to do the job. So we’ll just have to see tomorrow.”

Pedrosa will start from the first row for the fifth time this season, giving him a valuable clear run into the tight first corner at Sachsenring. The 24-year-old Spaniard looked in with a good chance of pole position as he went to the top of the timesheets early in the session. In the closing 10 minutes he was edged into third place by Lorenzo and Stoner.

“The main target today was to get onto the first row and we’ve achieved this so I’m happy," Pedrosa said. "It’s important to start from the front row because the first corner is close to the starting grid and also the first few corners are very tight, so it’s better to be up front and try to stay out of trouble.

"We were lucky with the weather today and we got more dry practice time than expected. Generally we did a good job in the two practice sessions and our race pace looks pretty reasonable. We’ll try to find a little something extra with the set-up in warm-up tomorrow but I’m confident we can have a strong race.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) will head up the second row as he followed three-tenths behind his team-mate, while Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) will start the race from fifth as he ended up 0.578 secs. off the pace of Lorenzo.

Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) achieved his best premier class qualification to date with sixth.

The session was red flagged with 25 minutes remaining as Lorenzo’s M1 started to spill oil, and flames then began to pour out of the side of the Spaniard’s bike as he approached turn one before he managed to pull off the track.

Following behind Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) fell in the split oil, as did De Puniet (LCR Honda) and the Frenchman collided with Spies’ stationary bike as he slid off.

De Puniet went for X-rays on his right leg at the Clinica Mobile which confirmed no breaks, and he will be hopeful of taking his seventh spot on the grid, having started 189 consecutive races since 1999.

Alex de Angelis (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) had a crash towards the end of the session and was uninjured, while Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) had a run-off late on.

Andrea Iannone’s fourth Moto2 pole of the season – his third in succession – was confirmed at Sachsenring on Saturday as the Fimmco Speed Up rider qualified fastest with a lap of 1:24.982, making him the only sub-1:25 rider and placing him 0.673 secs. clear at the top of the timesheet.

The Italian will be joined on the front row by Arne Tode (Racing Team Germany), who delighted the home crowd by qualifying in second position.

Just nine-thousandths of a second behind him was Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing), who had a crash late on in the session from which he walked away uninjured.

Completing the front row will be Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), with a gap of 0.776 secs. separating him from the pole position holder.

Marc Márquez will start Sunday’s 125cc eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland from pole position thanks to a fantastic qualifying display on Saturday afternoon at Sachsenring.

The 17-year-old Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider’s blistering time of 1:26.053 was 0.786 secs. faster than that of Gabor Talmacsi, which had stood as the record since 2007.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha 1:21.817
2. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati 1:21.841
3. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda 1:21.948
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda 1:22.263
5. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha 1:22.395
6. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:22.454
7. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda 1:22.610
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:22.624
9. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati 1:22.910
10. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:22.917
11. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati 1:22.961
12. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:23.026
13. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:23.028
14. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki 1:23.040
15. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati 1:23.090
16. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki 1:23.193
17. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) Interwetten Honda 1:23.515