Lorenzo rockets to Silverstone pole

Jorge Lorenzo secured his first pole position of the 2010 campaign for the AirAsia British Grand Prix after an exciting qualifying practice at Silverstone. The World Championship leader battled with Randy de Puniet through the latter stages of the session, finally edging the Frenchman out with a best time of 2’03.308.

De Puniet had stunned the rest of the field with 15 minutes to go when he stripped half a second off Lorenzo’s top time, and the LCR Honda man looked on course for his first ever premier class pole when he again improved on that. However, his 2’03.434 was eventually the second fastest time as Lorenzo took pole back, and the Frenchman was left to be satisfied with his first front row start since Assen 2007. De Puniet also experienced a fall right at the end of the session as he pushed hard, one which he escaped uninjured.

Completing the front row will be Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa who was 0.152s further back. The Spaniard set his fastest lap on his final turn of the circuit, and then had a crash at Turn 12 which saw him stretchered off the side of the track. X-rays at the medical centre confirmed that Pedrosa had suffered bruising to his left and right knees, and will be able to take his position on the starting grid on Sunday.

Leading the second row will be another Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, who was four-tenths of a second off his team-mate’s pace and the final rider to get within a second of Lorenzo (+0.687s). Ducati Marlboro duo Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner had just 0.062s between them as they took fifth and sixth spots on the grid respectively.

The top ten in the session was completed by Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech3), San Carlo Honda Gresini pair Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli, and Spies’ team-mate Colin Edwards. Sunday’s MotoGP race will start at 1pm local time.