Lorenzo claims third consecutive pole
Rookie sensation Jorge Lorenzo took a dominant pole position - his third in three MotoGP events - ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix
The Fiat Yamaha rider also managed to destroy the Estoril track record - set in 2006 with a 990cc Yamaha ridden by now-teammate Valentino Rossi - by almost half a second with a lap time of 1:35.715 with three minutes of the one-hour session to go.
The Spaniard had already managed to break the lap record with ten minutes to go, despite losing three tenths in the second sector when he found Chris Vermeulen running slowly on the racing line with his Rizla Suzuki.
Championship leader Dani Pedrosa snatched second with his Repsol Honda, 0.233 seconds behind compatriot and arch-rival Lorenzo, in the closing seconds of the session, pushing Rossi to third, almost half a second behind pole.
Pedrosa's teammate Nicky Hayden qualified fourth, ahead of Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards, who held the fastest lap with 20 minutes of the session to go. Edwards's teammate James Toseland completes the second row of the grid.
JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso was seventh-fastest followed by LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet. Suzuki's John Hopkins qualified tenth behind reigning champion Casey Stoner with Ducati Marlboro.
It was a bad day for the Italian manufacturer, whose other works bike qualified 17th with Marco Melandri, while the two Alice customer Desmosedicis will start from 14th spot with Toni Elias and 18th with Sylvain Guintoli. The latter crashed seven minutes into the session and had to walk back to the pits.
Loris Capirossi also crashed with 15 minutes to go, with his Suzuki being heavily damaged.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:35.715 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:35.948 + 0.233 3. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:36.199 + 0.484 4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:36.266 + 0.551 5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:36.289 + 0.574 6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:36.790 + 1.075 7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:36.998 + 1.283 8. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:37.223 + 1.508 9. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:37.253 + 1.538 10. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:37.346 + 1.631 11. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:37.664 + 1.949 12. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:37.786 + 2.071 13. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:37.843 + 2.128 14. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:38.561 + 2.846 15. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:38.775 + 3.060 16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:38.823 + 3.108 17. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:39.115 + 3.400 18. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:39.355 + 3.640
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