Third straight pole for Lorenzo

From motogp.com

Jorge Lorenzo put in a strong end of qualifying run to take pole position for Sunday’s MotoGP race at Montmeló, coming out on top in an hour-long battle for supremacy in Saturday afternoon's session.

The Fiat Yamaha rider’s best time of 1:42.046 ended up placing him 0.364 secs. clear, but only after top spot had changed hands a number of times.

"I'm really happy with this third pole position. It seems we're doing a very good job and it's very special to get it at my home round,” he explained. “It was a hard session but finally I was able to do some quick laps at the end with the soft tire.

"It is so hot here and I think it's easy to say that tomorrow will be the hardest race so far this season. I will have to concentrate extra hard in this weather and also make sure that my physical condition is the best it can be.”

Second position was Casey Stoner’s after the Ducati Team rider overcame what was a clear dissatisfaction with his bike to move up several places on his 19th of 21 laps. The Australian did take first spot with his time of 1:42.410, but only momentarily as Lorenzo hit back with his penultimate lap.

“We only got one soft tire in because everyone was holding us up. We had to leave it to the last minute really to do that fast lap but in general we’ve been pretty happy and consistent with our race tires,” said Stoner.

“We struggled a little bit this afternoon trying to get some pace but we tried a few too many things and got a bit confused and it wasn’t really in the right direction,” he continued. “We feel that we can put up a bit more of a challenge. My fitness seems pretty good so we’re just going to have to wait for the race tomorrow. But qualifying was to be expected and we thought we could go a lot faster than that.”

With the air temperature reaching 35ºC and the track 53ºC there were some who struggled with the hot conditions, but Stoner was not one of them.

“For myself it’s not too bad,” he stated. “I don’t know if I’m doing a little better than everyone else and I’m sweating now because I’m under the lights! But when we were out there it didn’t seem too bad and we were doing some laps. I don’t feel like it’s the hardest race like everyone is going on about. I think there have been a lot worse than this!”

Completing the front row after another superb QP will be Randy de Puniet, and the LCR Honda rider’s consistency throughout the session was impressive. The Frenchman led until 10 minutes before the end when the battle heated up, eventually timing a further 0.102 secs. behind Stoner to make it three front-row starts in succession.

“I’m so happy because I did a fast lap time at the beginning and with a race tire, and was very consistent. The difference with the hard and soft tire was not so big in the end, and that’s why tomorrow I can keep a very good pace and fight for maybe close to the podium, we will see,” he stated.

De Puniet has finished sixth four times this season, impressing with his riding and consolidating himself as the highest ranking satellite rider in the overall standings.

“It will be a very difficult race tomorrow because the temperature is very high, but I feel the bike is good and the tires too,” he continued. “I think tomorrow I can have my best result of the year so far.”

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa also made a late surge and he climbed onto the front row for a few minutes before finishing fourth, just eight hundredths of a second off De Puniet in a breathless final few laps.

Ben Spies also made a charge at the end of the session and improved his standing considerably, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider following up an impressive day one practice with fifth place on the starting grid.

Andrea Dovizioso completed the second row as he took his Repsol Honda round in the sixth best time.

Loris Capirossi will have been pleased with the marked improvement on the GSV-R of the Rizla Suzuki team as he placed seventh, with rookies Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) also taking third row places, the latter securing his best qualification so far this season.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) were 10th and 11th respectively.

Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) had finished the session in eighth, but his final lap was cancelled after Race Direction deemed he had cut the track between Turns 1 and 2, meaning his reclassified position was 12th.

Having won twice this season from his two previous Moto2 pole position starts, Andrea Iannone will go for a third victory of 2010 at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya from top spot on the grid on Sunday. The Italian’s time of 1:47.493 on his penultimate lap of the qualifying session meant he ended qualifying 0.267 secs. clear on the timesheets.

The closest rider to him was Tech 3 Moto2’s Yuki Takahashi as the Japanese took his best qualification of the season so far in second, with Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2) the third and final rider under the 1:48 mark as he remained strong in spite of his injured collarbone.

Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) will complete the front row after setting the fourth best time of the session.

MotoGP Qualifying Results
1. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha 1:42.046
2. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati 1:42.410
3. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda 1:42.512
4. Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda 1:42.592
5. Ben SPIES (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:42.710
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda 1:42.866
7. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki 1:42.903
8. Marco SIMONCELLI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:42.994
9. Alvaro BAUTISTA (SPA) Rizla Suzuki 1:43.025
10. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Tech 3 Yamaha 1:43.059
11. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati 1:43.068
12. Aleix ESPARGARO (SPA) Pramac Ducati 1:43.380
13. Hector BARBERA (SPA) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:43.417
14. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) San Carlo Gresini Honda 1:43.621
15. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Ducati 1:43.685
16. Kousuke AKIYOSHI (JPN) Interwetten Honda 1:45.577
17. Wataru YOSHIKAWA (JPN) Fiat Yamaha 1:45.759