Jorge Lorenzo will start the 2011 Portuguese Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday afternoon. The reigning Champion produced a blistering late effort to move ahead of Marco Simoncelli who had led for much of the qualifying hour before crashing out. Dani Pedrosa claimed the final spot on the front row, as he continues to display lots of raw speed ahead of his first race since a recent shoulder operation.
Overcast skies covered the 4.182-km (2.599-mi) as the session got underway, while air and track temperatures rested at 18°C (64°F) and 26°C (79°C) respectively. It was Simoncelli who rose to the top of the timesheets promptly, and he remained there for much of the session. The Italian went on to make a late error when pushing to improve his time, ending his session early and allowing Lorenzo to move to the front.
Behind Pedrosa’s leading Repsol Honda, team-mate Casey Stoner had to make do with fourth after a relatively low-key session for the 2007 Champion. Ben Spies was over eight tenths behind fellow factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, leaving him narrowly ahead of Andrea Dovizioso on the second row of the grid.
Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow were next on the timesheets for Tech 3 Yamaha, with the pair showing promise during the final stages of the session. Ninth place was occupied by Valentino Rossi, the fastest Ducati rider on-track this afternoon. Héctor Barberá completed the top ten, while Nicky Hayden ended the session back in 13th.
Sunday's race gets underway at 1pm local time (BST)
Series
MotoGP
Personalities
Jorge Lorenzo
Teams
Yamaha Factory Racing
Other
Get your official MotoGP tickets at Sportstadium.com
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  J. Lorenzo | Fiat Yamaha | 01:37.161 | 29 |
| 2. | M. Simoncelli | Gresini | 01:37.294 | 22 |
| 3. | D. Pedrosa | Repsol Honda | 01:37.324 | 28 |
| 4. | C. Stoner | Repsol Honda | 01:37.384 | 25 |
| 5. | B. Spies | Fiat Yamaha | 01:37.866 | 29 |
| 6. | A. Dovizioso | Repsol Honda | 01:38.073 | 29 |
| 7. | C. Edwards | Tech 3 | 01:38.080 | 27 |
| 8. | C. Crutchlow | Tech 3 | 01:38.189 | 25 |
| 9. | V. Rossi | Ducati | 01:38.271 | 29 |
| 10. | H. Barbera | Aspar Team | 01:38.363 | 27 |
| Full results | ||||
| Jorge Lorenzo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More Jorge Lorenzo photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
