Lorenzo tops times with Catalunya pole

Added on Saturday, July 3rd, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments

Lorenzo on top at Catalunya

Jorge Lorenzo completed another MotoGP qualifying session with pole position, starting tomorrow’s race at the Catalunya from the top of the grid.

Grasping his third consecutive pole position in the dying stages of the qualifying hour allowed the Spaniard to confirm his status, expanding his stranglehold on the 2010 championship.

Ducati ace Casey Stoner was hot on the tail of Lorenzo as the session was coming to an end, and despite a brief spell as fastest rider, the Australian was forced to settle for second. Starting on the front row of the grid is a strong position for Stoner, and he will be hoping to transfer second into number one.

The final spot on the front row was awarded to Randy De Puniet, who was far from out of the running for top spot. Also enjoying his time as the quickest man out on track, his provisional pole position was taken away from him with just ten minutes of the session remaining, demoting him to third. This will be De Puniet’s third front row start in a row.

The second row will see championship contender Dani Pedrosa head the row in fourth, with Ben Spies and Andrea Dovizioso ready to fight it out alongside him. Behind, Loris Capirossi will start tomorrow’s race from seventh, with Marco Simoncelli eighth and Alvaro Bautista enjoying a ninth place start. Colin Edwards completes the top ten, with Stoner’s Ducati teammate, Nicky Hayden just next to him in eleventh.

Lorenzo will be looking to extend his lead at the top of the championship table tomorrow, in the absence of his FIAT Yamaha teammate, Valentino Rossi, but will have some stiff competition all around him.

MotoGP, Catalunya, Qualifying Positions:

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Time
1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	1′42.046
2	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Team	1′42.410
3	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	1′42.512
4	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	1′42.592
5	Ben SPIES	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1′42.710
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	1′42.866
7	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1′42.903
8	Marco SIMONCELLI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1′42.994
9	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SPA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	1′43.025
10	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	1′43.059
11	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Team	1′43.068
12	Aleix ESPARGARO	SPA	Pramac Racing Team	1′43.380
13	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Paginas Amarillas Aspar	1′43.417
14	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	1′43.621
15	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing Team	1′43.685
16	Kousuke AKIYOSHI	JPN	Interwetten Honda MotoGP	1′45.577
17	Wataru YOSHIKAWA	JPN	Fiat Yamaha Team	1′45.759