Lorenzo: I'm in the best form of my life

The factory Yamaha rider had made a spectacular start to his MotoGP career with three straight poles in the opening rounds, but his form then slumped after a run of heavy crashes and injuries.

Lorenzo has got back on the pace in recent races though, taking front row starts and podium finishes in the last two events at Misano and Indianapolis.

He then produced a commanding performance in Motegi qualifying - setting a relatively early provisional pole time that remained untouchable, and then beating his own benchmark with a new qualifying lap record at the end of the session.

"I can say that now I'm in one of the best shapes of my life," said Lorenzo.

"I'm riding so fast, and also the bike and the tyres are working well, because if they weren't, I wouldn't be like that.

"The team is doing a great job working on the set-up of the bike and the chassis. This result is fantastic."

The Spaniard was unwilling to make predictions for race day, but said for the time being he was just delighted to be back on pole.

"We'll wait for tomorrow, because the important thing is the race, but for a start, this is so good," said Lorenzo.