Lorenzo takes fourth consecutive pole

Added on Saturday, July 17th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Jorge Lorenzo recorded his fourth consecutive pole position at the Sachsenring, Germany this afternoon, despite his Yamaha M1 coating the track in oil.

With twenty-five minutes of the qualifying hour remaining, the session was shown the red flag due to Lorenzo’s Yamaha sharing its oil with the tarmac. As a result of the spillage, Ben Spies slid off of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine, leaving his empty bike in the path of an unsuspecting Randy De Puniet.

After colliding with the Yamaha, De Puniet was taken to the medical centre, where his right leg was x-rayed. Fortunately he was deemed uninjured, and is hopefully of taking his place on the grid tomorrow.

With the session resumed, Casey Stoner was able to secure the second fastest time around the impressive circuit, with one of his best chances of the season for a victory coming this weekend. Meanwhile, Lorenzo’s nearest championship rival, Dani Pedrosa completes the front row with a third place start.

The second row of the grid kicks off with Andrea Dovizioso setting the fourth quickest time, with the returning Valentino Rossi in fifth. After breaking his leg just six weeks ago, Rossi has proven his fitness to ensure he made his way back to the grid. Alongside Rossi, and completing the second row, is Hector Barbera.

Despite his drama with the oil, De Puniet set the seventh fastest time, while Marco Simoncelli, Aleix Espargaro and Marco Melandri complete the top ten. Mika Kallio, Colin Edwards and Ben Spies narrowly missed out on a top ten spot, and will be starting eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth, respectively.

MotoGP, Qualifying Positions, Sachsenring:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time
1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’21.817
2	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Team	1’21.841
3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	1’21.948
4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	1’22.263
5	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1’22.395
6	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Paginas Amarillas Aspar	1’22.454
7	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	1’22.610
8	Marco SIMONCELLI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’22.624
9	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	1’22.910
10	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1’22.917
11	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing Team	1’22.961
12	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’23.026
13	Ben SPIES	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1’23.028
14	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’23.040
15	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	1’23.090
16	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1’23.193
17	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	Interwetten Honda MotoGP	1’23.515