Lorenzo grabs pole on MotoGP debut
Reigning 250cc champion Jorge Lorenzo made a sensational MotoGP qualifying debut, by taking pole position for tomorrow night's Qatar Grand Prix
Lorenzo managed to snatch pole from another high-profile rookie, reigning World Superbike champion James Toseland, with just two minutes remaining in the session.
But with American Colin Edwards rounding up the top three, this evening's running highlighted the superiority of the Yamaha-Michelin qualifying package, filling up the front row.
The fourth Yamaha, the one fitted with Bridgestone tyres as demanded by seven-time champion Valentino Rossi, qualified in a disappointing seventh place, 1.2 seconds behind Lorenzo.
The top Bridgestone runner was Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner, who had to settle for fourth fastest with his Marlboro Ducati.
Toseland used a qualifying tyre with 41 minutes remaining and took pole from Stoner by eight tenths, beating last year's pole position time set by Rossi by half a second.
Lorenzo then beat Toseland's by 3.5 tenths with 21 minutes remaining, but that lasted less than a minute, when the Briton took pole back by three hundredths.
With 11 minutes to go Lorenzo managed to improve over his best time, but was still short of Toseland's time by 22 thousandths of a second.
Lorenzo finally managed to snatch pole with two minutes to go with a time of 1:53.927, a quarter of a second faster than Toseland.
The top Honda was Team Cecchinello's Randy de Puniet, who managed fifth on the grid ahead of the Repsol-sponsored works bikes of Nicky Hayden in sixth and Dani Pedrosa in eighth.
Rookie Andrea Dovizioso with the JiR Team Scot Honda set the ninth fastest time, ahead of John Hopkins's Kawasaki in tenth.
The top Suzuki ended up being Chris Vermeulen's in 11th, with the other being Loris Capirossi's in 13th spot.
Marco Melandri in the other works Ducati will start the race from the 16th slot on the grid, ending the session 2.8 seconds away from pole.
Pos Rider Make Time 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1:53.927 2. James Toseland Yamaha 1:54.182 + 0.255 3. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:54.499 + 0.572 4. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:54.733 + 0.806 5. Randy de Puniet Honda 1:54.818 + 0.891 6. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:54.880 + 0.953 7. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:55.133 + 1.206 8. Daniel Pedrosa Honda 1:55.170 + 1.243 9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1:55.185 + 1.258 10. John Hopkins Kawasaki 1:55.263 + 1.336 11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:55.540 + 1.613 12. Alex de Angelis Honda 1:55.692 + 1.765 13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1:56.070 + 2.143 14. Toni Elias Ducati 1:56.251 + 2.324 15. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:56.434 + 2.507 16. Marco Melandri Ducati 1:56.730 + 2.803 17. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati 1:57.198 + 3.271 18. Anthony West Kawasaki 1:57.445 + 3.518
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