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MONTEREY, California - Reigning World champion Jorge Lorenzo will be on pole at Laguna Seca on Sunday for the US MotoGP for the fourth consecutive time.
His time also gave Lorenzo his third pole of the season, grabbed in the final seconds with a time of 1min20.554, to finish ahead of Casey Stoner – by only 0.074sec - and Dani Pedrosa.
'LOT OF TRAFFIC'
"I knew Casey and Dani were going to try to take pole but I really wanted it here in America," Lorenzo said. "I pushed to the limit, especially in the last corner - I was at full lean and opened the throttle really soon.
"In my first two tries for a perfect lap there was a lot of traffic so I had to wait for the right moment. The important thing is Sunday... pole position is nice but the race is what counts."
Lorenzo posted a dominant victory in Mugello last time out and has a 19-point lead in the championship over Pedrosa.
Pedrosa was superb during Friday's opening practice day but was unable to repeat the performance on Saturday.
American Ben Spies suffered a heavy crash Saturday but was able to hobble away from it on his own. He finished fourth while Cal Crutchlow, showing no signs of his crash on Friday, will start fifth. Spies said he plans to see a doctor about his injured foot.
"I think we could have got on the front row," Spies said. "I was feeling really good I just maybe didn’t let the right side of the tyre heat up to quite the right temperature and had a pretty big high side.
"Anyway, we got back out and were able to do the same times as before the crash. I need to get some X-rays to check my heel as I took a big hit on it in the crash."
Sixth on the grid went to Italy's Andrea Dovizioso, Spain's Alvaro Bautista seventh.
LAGUNA SECA MOTOGP QUALIFYING TIMES
1 Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 1min20.554
2 Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda) +0.074
3 Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) +0.352
4 Ben Spies (USA/Yamaha) +0.540
5 Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha) +0.714
6 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Yamaha) +0.985
7 Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) +1.178
8 Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) +1.180
9 Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda) +1.199
10 Valentino Rossi (ITA/Ducati) +1.990
His time also gave Lorenzo his third pole of the season, grabbed in the final seconds with a time of 1min20.554, to finish ahead of Casey Stoner – by only 0.074sec - and Dani Pedrosa.
'LOT OF TRAFFIC'
"I knew Casey and Dani were going to try to take pole but I really wanted it here in America," Lorenzo said. "I pushed to the limit, especially in the last corner - I was at full lean and opened the throttle really soon.
"In my first two tries for a perfect lap there was a lot of traffic so I had to wait for the right moment. The important thing is Sunday... pole position is nice but the race is what counts."
Lorenzo posted a dominant victory in Mugello last time out and has a 19-point lead in the championship over Pedrosa.
Pedrosa was superb during Friday's opening practice day but was unable to repeat the performance on Saturday.
American Ben Spies suffered a heavy crash Saturday but was able to hobble away from it on his own. He finished fourth while Cal Crutchlow, showing no signs of his crash on Friday, will start fifth. Spies said he plans to see a doctor about his injured foot.
"I think we could have got on the front row," Spies said. "I was feeling really good I just maybe didn’t let the right side of the tyre heat up to quite the right temperature and had a pretty big high side.
"Anyway, we got back out and were able to do the same times as before the crash. I need to get some X-rays to check my heel as I took a big hit on it in the crash."
Sixth on the grid went to Italy's Andrea Dovizioso, Spain's Alvaro Bautista seventh.
LAGUNA SECA MOTOGP QUALIFYING TIMES
1 Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 1min20.554
2 Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda) +0.074
3 Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) +0.352
4 Ben Spies (USA/Yamaha) +0.540
5 Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha) +0.714
6 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Yamaha) +0.985
7 Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Honda) +1.178
8 Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) +1.180
9 Stefan Bradl (GER/Honda) +1.199
10 Valentino Rossi (ITA/Ducati) +1.990
