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Lorenzo beats de Puniet to pole

Jorge Lorenzo beat star independent rider Randy de Puniet to Silverstone pole, while third placed Dani Pedrosa had a big accident at the end of the session

De Puniet was the sensation of qualifying, putting his LCR Honda on provisional pole and extending the margin shortly afterwards.

As the big names tried and failed to depose him, it looked increasingly likely that de Puniet would be the first non-factory polesitter since Casey Stoner took a pole for the same squad in early 2006.

Lorenzo (Yamaha) trailed de Puniet's time until the final sector of his best lap, when he found a vast improvement to knock the Frenchman off pole - and claim his first of the year.

De Puniet's last bid to take the position back ended with a crash in the Arena section, from which he quickly walked away.

But Pedrosa needed medical assistance when he fell at Brooklands moments earlier. The Honda rider had difficulty getting up after the accident and was eventually taken away by stretcher. His bike continued head on into the barriers and was substantially damaged.

Andrea Dovizioso put the second Honda fourth, ahead of the two Ducatis - Nicky Hayden ahead of Casey Stoner.

Tech 3 Yamaha duo Ben Spies and Colin Edwards were seventh and 10th, split by the Gresini Hondas, while Suzuki's tough weekend continued as Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista qualified back in 14th and 15th.

Pos  Rider             Team               Time       Gap
 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha             2m03.308s
 2.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda          2m03.434s  + 0.126s
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda              2m03.586s  + 0.278s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda              2m03.995s  + 0.687s
 5.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati             2m04.334s  + 1.026s
 6.  Casey Stoner      Ducati             2m04.394s  + 1.086s
 7.  Ben Spies         Tech 3 Yamaha      2m04.477s  + 1.169s
 8.  Marco Melandri    Gresini Honda      2m04.555s  + 1.247s
 9.  Marco Simoncelli  Gresini Honda      2m04.868s  + 1.560s
10.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha      2m05.035s  + 1.727s
11.  Hector Barbera    Aspar Ducati       2m05.354s  + 2.046s
12.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Interwetten Honda  2m05.712s  + 2.404s
13.  Aleix Espargaro   Pramac Ducati      2m05.748s  + 2.440s
14.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki             2m05.821s  + 2.513s
15.  Alvaro Bautista   Suzuki             2m06.607s  + 3.299s
16.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati      2m06.980s  + 3.672s

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