Jorge Lorenzo grabbed a highly impressive pole position at Laguna Seca this afternoon, confirming his place at the front of Sunday's grid with a stunning late effort. The reigning Champion’s personal best time of 1:21.202 came on his final flying lap, while Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa completed the top three.
Conditions were much warmer at the California venue this afternoon, as air and track temperatures continued to rise following the third and final practice session. Lorenzo admitted that he was feeling a little sore after his highside, with the factory Yamaha squad later attributing the accident to a practice start just once corner before.
However, Spaniard bounced back straight away, holding the top spot for the majority of the session before team-mate Ben Spies put in a significant challenge for pole position. The latter moved atop the timesheets briefly, before crashing out and paving the way for Lorenzo to cement his advantage. Spies eventually slipped back to fourth place, ending just over a tenth of a second ahead of Gresini's Marco Simoncelli.
Andrea Dovizioso had to settle for sixth after a low-key session, while Valentino Rossi enjoyed some encouraging late pace to finish just behind his fellow Italian. Héctor Barberá delivered a strong performance to grab eighth in front of Nicky Hayden who suffered a costly fall, with Britain’s Cal Crutchlow just over a tenth further back in tenth.
Sunday's race begins at 3pm local time (BST -7)
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Jorge Lorenzo
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  J. Lorenzo | Fiat Yamaha | 01:21.202 | 35 |
| 2. | C. Stoner | Repsol Honda | 01:21.274 | 29 |
| 3. | D. Pedrosa | Repsol Honda | 01:21.385 | 31 |
| 4. | B. Spies | Fiat Yamaha | 01:21.578 | 30 |
| 5. | M. Simoncelli | Gresini | 01:21.696 | 32 |
| 6. | A. Dovizioso | Repsol Honda | 01:21.731 | 34 |
| 7. | V. Rossi | Ducati | 01:22.235 | 33 |
| 8. | H. Barbera | Aspar Team | 01:22.238 | 30 |
| 9. | N. Hayden | Ducati | 01:22.271 | 30 |
| 10. | C. Crutchlow | Tech 3 | 01:22.385 | 31 |
| Full results | ||||
| Jorge Lorenzo | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Jorge Lorenzo photos | |||
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