Sachsenring delivers fourth straight pole of season for Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo took his fourth consecutive pole of the 2010 campaign with the top time in qualifying for the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, setting a fastest lap of 1’21.817 on Saturday. The Championship leader had a dramatic session, in which an oil spill from his M1 resulted in a red flag after crashes for Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet, but he went on to ensure he will go for a fourth straight win from top spot on the grid on Sunday.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Team) will launch his challenge for a first victory of the season from second place after he finished the session just 0.024s behind Lorenzo, and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) will also be on the front row as he was the third and final rider under the 1’22” mark.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) will head up the second row as he followed three-tenths behind his team-mate, whilst Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha) will start the race from fifth as he ended up 0.578s off the pace of Lorenzo. Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar) achieved his best premier class qualification to date with sixth.

The session was red flagged with 25 minutes remaining as Lorenzo’s M1 started to spill oil, and flames then began to pour out of the side of the Spaniard’s bike as he approached turn one before he managed to pull off the track. Following behind Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) fell in the split oil, as did De Puniet (LCR Honda) and the Frenchman collided with Spies’ stationary bike as he slid off.

De Puniet went for X-rays on his right leg at the Clinica Mobile which confirmed no breaks, and he will be hopeful of taking his seventh spot on the grid having started 189 consecutive races since 1999.

Alex de Angelis (Interwetten Honda MotoGP) had a crash towards the end of the session and was uninjured, whilst Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) had a run-off late on.