Jorge Lorenzo took today’s pole position at the Sepang International Circuit, his sixth of the season, after being off the top spot for five races.
Lorenzo first spot on the grid will easily set him up to win the Championship title this weekend.
The Spaniard who headed the timesheets for most of the hour, snatched the pole position by just 0.
1s from Nicky Hayden, second (who was only 15th on Friday afternoon and 11th in this morning’s practice) with only a minute remaining in the tight session.
Third went to Andrea Dovizioso, who was almost 3 tenths of a second behind Lorenzo.
The second row will see Ben Spies, who also rose to the provisional pole, but on another run ran wide after being baulked by team mate Colin Edwards.
Surprisingly enough both Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi were unable to challenge the pole in the final minutes of the session and will take off in fifth and sixth respectively.
Edwards will start from seventh, with Alvaro Bautista in eighth ahead of team mate Loris Capirossi, who missed this morning’s practice session after being violently highsided from his Suzuki, suffering a badly bruised ankle.
Gresini Honda duo, Melandri and Simoncelli were 10th and 11th and the first riders to be 1 second slower than Lorenzo’s pole time.
MotoGP Motegi Qualifying Results:01- Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 2′01.
53702- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.
10003- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
29204- Ben Spies – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
45605- Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.
48606- Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
49307- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
56008- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 0.
85709- Loris Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 0.
98510- Marco Melandri – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
08711- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
15312- Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
18613- Randy De Puniet – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
23814- Hiroshi Aoyama – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
24115- Hector Barbera – Paginas Amarillas Aspar – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
39116- Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 2.
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