Lorenzo claims pole in Portugal
Jorge Lorenzo has taken a strong pole position for tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril
The Yamaha rider shot to the top of the timesheets with 18 minutes remaining in the one-hour session. From that point on, he further improved three times to settle with a 1m36.214s lap time set with one minute remaining.
Second best was Lorenzo's team-mate and championship leader Valentino Rossi, who snatched the grid position from Ducati's Casey Stoner with a few seconds left. Rossi's time is just over a quarter of a second slower than Lorenzo's and half a tenth quicker than Stoner's.
The Australian, who returns to MotoGP with a satisfying front row after missing the last three races, was followed by Honda's Dani Pedrosa, Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards, and LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet.
Suzuki's Loris Capirossi leads the third row, with Andrea Dovizioso's Honda eighth and the Ducatis of Nicky Hayden Mika Kallio - the latter on the Pramac entry - rounding up the top ten.
The Gresini Hondas of Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias qualified respectively in 11th and 13th positions, while Marco Melandri ended up a lowly 16th with the Hayate Kawasaki.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m36.214s 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m36.474s + 0.260s 3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m36.528s + 0.314s 4. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m36.702s + 0.488s 5. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m37.142s + 0.928s 6. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m37.448s + 1.234s 7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m37.489s + 1.275s 8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m37.541s + 1.327s 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m37.654s + 1.440s 10. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m37.813s + 1.599s 11. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m37.822s + 1.608s 12. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m37.823s + 1.609s 13. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m37.911s + 1.697s 14. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m38.042s + 1.828s 15. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m38.342s + 2.128s 16. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m39.108s + 2.324s 17. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m40.417s + 3.106s
Share Or Save This Story
Alex Zanardi open to Daytona 24 Hours or Indianapolis 500 bid
Giacomo Agostini says Rossi and Lorenzo will renew hostilities
Working Men: Interview with Ferrari's Test Drivers
How Lorenzo is pushing Vinales beyond his limits in MotoGP
The new role of MotoGP champion Lorenzo
Why a MotoGP legend needs to ditch social media and enjoy retirement
Malaysia will officially host F1's 2026 Bahrain GP
Why Hungarian GP pole position was an ‘overachievement" for Norris – and Ferrari still has a better car
How much time has Aston Martin gained with its F1 Hungarian GP update?
Antonelli hit with grid drop for yellow flag infringement in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments