Jorge Lorenzo content with second on Catalunya MotoGP grid after nearly crashing

The current MotoGP championship leader nearly lost the rear of his Yamaha coming over the bumps at the third turn of the Spanish circuit, but held on and managed to set his fastest lap almost immediately after.

Although he lines up behind chief title rival Casey Stoner, Lorenzo says he is happy to be on second and is confident he has the pace to challenge for victory in Sunday's race.

"It was very important to finish on the front row today because I knew all the riders would be pushing to the limit in qualifying," Lorenzo said.

"The lap times were very close but I managed to make a good lap. I almost crashed in the third corner on my first hot lap on the bumps so second place is good for tomorrow. The save was lucky for us and then suddenly I made my fastest lap.

"[I'm] quite confident for tomorrow, we have pace and can be there."

Lorenzo did however caution that he was still struggling with the feeling at the front of his Yamaha.

"We still need a little good feeling on the front; we are struggling on some corners so we need to improve the feeling or it's going to be difficult in the race," he warned.

"We would have liked to be on pole, but we are happy with the position."