Lorenzo beats Rossi to Catalunya pole
Jorge Lorenzo beat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi to pole position ahead of tomorrow's Catalunya MotoGP
The Spaniard, running in front of his home crowd at Barcelona, snatched the top spot from his Italian rival with just one minute of the one-hour session remaining, thanks to a 1m41.974s lap, after Rossi had led the times for the previous 20 minutes.
A final charge by the two riders ended up with both setting exactly the same time, just 0.013 seconds off pole.
Ducati's Casey Stoner will complete the front row, with his best lap being over four tenths slower than the ones set by the Yamahas.
Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) will start the race from the fourth spot, followed by Toni Elias (Gresini Honda), Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), who crashed with five minutes to go, and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda).
Dani Pedrosa, who could only set the eighth fastest time, had to be stretchered out of the track with just two minutes of the session remaining, after he dropped his Honda bike in the gravel in an effort to avoid hitting the barriers.
Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland was ninth quickest, with Pramac Ducati's Mika Kallio completing the top ten just ahead of the Suzukis of Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen.
Pos Rider Bike Time 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m41.974s 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m41.987s + 0.013s 3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m42.426s + 0.452s 4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m42.594s + 0.620s 5. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m43.139s + 1.165s 6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m43.168s + 1.194s 7. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m43.175s + 1.201s 8. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m43.207s + 1.233s 9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m43.233s + 1.259s 10. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m43.336s + 1.362s 11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m43.365s + 1.391s 12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m43.411s + 1.437s 13. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m43.414s + 1.440s 14. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m43.422s + 1.448s 15. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m43.714s + 1.740s 16. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m43.777s + 1.803s 17. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m43.792s + 1.818s 18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m43.991s + 2.017s 19. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m45.833s + 3.859s
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