Stoner edges Lorenzo to claim his tenth pole of 2011 at Motegi

Qualifying proved to be an engrossing battle between Stoner, his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa and Lorenzo, with the trio often separated by less than 0.1s.

Pedrosa was the first rider to dip below 1m46s, but - as has so often been the case this season - Stoner was able to respond, moving more than 0.2s clear at the front.

With five minutes to go however his position suddenly came under serious threat, as Lorenzo produced a stunning lap on the Yamaha to take provisional pole, beating his own 2008 qualifying record in the process.

Once again it was up to Stoner to respond, and while his first lap fell short his second flyer was phenomenal, the Australian eventually posting a 1m45.267s to shatter the lap record and move more than 0.2s clear.

Lorenzo therefore had to settle for second, while Andrea Dovizioso - polesitter last year - demoted Pedrosa in the final minutes to capture the final spot on the front row.

Pedrosa will share the second row with Yamaha's Ben Spies and Gresini Honda's Marco Simoncelli.

Spies, battling severe illness and sickness, improved throughout to seal fifth, while Simoncelli took sixth on his final lap, having lost his first bike when he dropped the front at Turn 5 in the first 25 minutes.

Simoncelli's gain was Valentino Rossi's loss, the Italian dropping to seventh having just set his own late flyer. Rossi was often troubling the top six however, hinting at real progress for Ducati.

Alvaro Bautista on the lone Suzuki finished in eighth, with Hector Barbera on the Aspar Ducati beating the works machine of Nicky Hayden to ninth.

There was a fall too for Tech 3's Colin Edwards, although like Simoncelli he was able to return and use a second bike, eventually finishing 14th fastest.

Pos  Rider             Team/Bike       Time       Gap
 1.  Casey Stoner      Honda           1m45.267s  
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha          1m45.523s  + 0.256s
 3.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda           1m45.791s  + 0.524s
 4.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda           1m45.966s  + 0.699s
 5.  Ben Spies         Yamaha          1m46.042s  + 0.775s
 6.  Marco Simoncelli  Gresini Honda   1m46.211s  + 0.944s
 7.  Valentino Rossi   Ducati          1m46.467s  + 1.200s
 8.  Alvaro Bautista   Suzuki          1m46.586s  + 1.319s
 9.  Hector Barbera    Aspar Ducati    1m46.694s  + 1.427s
10.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati          1m46.763s  + 1.496s
11.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Gresini Honda   1m46.811s  + 1.544s
12.  Cal Crutchlow     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m46.818s  + 1.551s
13.  Randy de Puniet   Pramac Ducati   1m46.917s  + 1.650s
14.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha   1m47.165s  + 1.898s
15.  Karel Abraham     Cardion Ducati  1m47.922s  + 2.655s
16.  Toni Elias        LCR Honda       1m48.169s  + 2.902s
17.  Kousuke Akiyoshi  LCR Honda       1m48.367s  + 3.100s
18.  Damian Cudlin     Pramac Ducati   1m48.962s  + 3.695s
19.  Shinichi Ito      Honda           1m49.971s  + 4.704s