Lorenzo smashes Jerez lap record to take 2nd consecutive pole

Home hero Jorge Lorenzo continued his impressive rookie assault on the MotoGP class with an outstanding pole position in Jerez today, smashing the existing pole record by almost a second aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1 in front of thousands of Spanish fans. The youngest rider on the grid produced a masterful qualifying display to take his second consecutive pole position and his 3rd at this circuit. After topping the time sheets yesterday, Lorenzo continued gradually refining his set-up throughout this morning's free practice and the early part of the afternoon session, before setting the fastest lap so far on the first of three Michelin qualifying tyres with 20 minutes remaining. He bettered himself once again soon after before an inch-perfect final lap on his third soft tyre saw him improve another half a second to consolidate pole position. Dani Pedrosa was over half a second slower in second place whilst third spot was filled by Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards for the second race running. Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi had looked on course to join him on the front row before an electronic problem caused him to abandon his final hot lap, and he will start from fifth for tomorrow's 27-lap race. Jorge Lorenzo 1st 1'38.189 "The pole position and the second place in Qatar were like a dream, so it's an amazing surprise for me to repeat that pole position here, and even better because it's in front of my home fans! I was really happy with the last qualifying lap, my earlier ones were already quite good but not perfect, so I was really excited to make such a great final lap. Our race pace is good as well and I am feeling very comfortable on the bike and with my Michelin tyres. My rivals are very strong and will be trying hard to beat me, but I will definitely be fighting for the podium! Thanks to my team for doing a great job; I am really excited about tomorrow and I hope we have more weather like this and a fantastic show." Daniele Romagnoli - Team manager "Today was a perfect day. We watched today's qualifying with great emotion as Jorge demonstrated an excellent race pace and then beat the pole record in fantastic style on his qualifying laps. We were amazed! Yamaha and Michelin were able to provide a perfect package for us today, enabling Jorge to do an excellent job and ride in an incredible way. After today's result it's clear that we have the possibility to be on the podium tomorrow, and we will try our best to be there." Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi will start the Spanish Grand Prix from fifth position tomorrow. The Italian's last flying lap was cut short by an electronic issue but he nevertheless has an excellent race pace and looks on course to be a protagonist in tomorrow's 27-lap race. Rossi spent the first half of this afternoon's session refining set-up and testing Bridgestone tyres ahead of the race tomorrow, before strong laps with his first two qualifying tyres saw him on the provisional front row. He was confident of dipping under the 1'38 mark with his final try, but the electronic problem saw the end of his challenge and he will start from the middle of the second row. His time of 1'39.064 was dead-on the existing pole record, which was meanwhile bettered by almost a second by his young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi 5th 1'39.064 "Our target today was the front row and I think we could have done a 1'38 and maybe been second, but unfortunately I had an electronic problem on my last qualifying lap and I had to stop, which was unlucky. This is a pity and of course it would be better to be on the front, but anyway we're not far away, the second row is not so bad and I think we can be competitive tomorrow. Our race pace is okay, I think with some small adjustments we can improve a bit more but we're close. Congratulations to Lorenzo, I don't know if we can be quite as fast as him on race tyres and he will be hard to beat tomorrow, but let's see! We still haven't decided on our final race tyre, we have to wait and see how the temperature is tomorrow, but it's going to be a very exciting race and we're all looking forward to it!" Davide Brivio Team manager "It was a pity that Valentino couldn't finish his final qualifying lap today but unfortunately he had a small electronic issue, which we're now looking into to work out exactly what happened so that we can avoid it in future. The good news is that, apart from this lap, we were fast with the qualifying tyre as well as on race tyres and so this bodes well for the rest of the season's races. We still have to finalise our tyre choice for the race and make a few final adjustments, so we will be using the warm-up for this." Colin Edwards secures front row again Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards emerged from an eventful Spanish GP qualifying session this afternoon with the third fastest time to maintain his 100 per cent front row starting record in 2008. The American ran into the gravel trap and then produced an early contender for save of the season at turn one before logging a best lap of 1.38.954 to secure a second successive front row clean sweep for Michelin this season. A dramatic session for Edwards began when he ran off track at the Curva Dry Sack after six minutes. He then produced a memorable moment just 17 minutes later, somehow producing a miraculous save when he lost the front of his Yamaha YZR-M1 at the first corner. Digging his right knee and elbow into the tarmac, Edwards saved the big front tyre slide, much to the delight of fans packed in the trackside grandstand. Edwards has now finished in the top three in every session so far in Jerez this weekend, raising expectations that he can clinch a second successive Spanish GP podium in tomorrow's 27-lap race. Weakened by a severe bout of bronchitis, team-mate James Toseland produced a performance full of grit and determination, and he was only 0.3s off the front row. He clocked a best lap of 1.39.334 to finish just 0.048s behind reigning world champion Casey Stoner in eighth position. Far from being in peak condition, Toseland is still determined to become the first British rider since 1990 to claim successive top six finishes in MotoGP tomorrow afternoon. Colin Edwards 3rd 1.38.954 "It was very, very eventful to say the least. I was in the gravel once, somehow saved myself from crashing at the first corner and still managed to get on the front row. After all that I had to get on the front row for the team. My guys at Tech 3 and Yamaha have been awesome and they are doing a great job. I started the session with a rear tyre that had a few laps on it but with a new front. But a few laps in the bike didn't feel perfect. I came in and put a new rear in and I just got a little bit carried away. I started pushing and obviously got into turn one too hot. It went, came back, went away again and I thought I was down. I tried to dig my elbow in but it kept going so I kind of lifted my arm up and pulled it up on the handlebars. And it came back somehow. The crowd loved it anyway. I've done it a few times but this is the first time it has been caught on camera. I was a bit upset with the first incident. I was pushing and I saw Jorge Lorenzo in front of me and I thought he was on a new rear tyre. I'd done 15 laps on mine but I still wanted to keep him in sight. I came to the end of the back straight and I knew the second I hit the brakes I was running off. I just thought 'oh no, this is about ten metres too deep' and off I went into the gravel. After Qatar this is my second front row and I'm ready for the race. My pace for the race was a bit better this morning when it was a bit cooler, but we are still looking good." James Toseland 8th 1.39.334 "I'm disappointed with eighth after I got a front row in Qatar but I am rough. I don't like to make excuses but I am not feeling at my best at all. To be only three-tenths off the front row and eighth is a bit frustrating. I'm losing three-tenths just with the way I'm feeling. But when you feel this rough it just shows that if you are not fully on it you can be eighth pretty easy because it is so close. I feel a bit better than yesterday and hopefully my condition will have improved a bit more tomorrow for the race, but I've never taken so many drugs in my life. It will be a tough race in my condition but my guys are doing a great job and I'm sure the bike will be great. I feel for the team because I'm not feeling on top of the world. It is so close though. Jorge did an unbelievable lap but from second to thirteenth the gap is less than a second. I don't think I've ever seen anything that close in all the classes I've raced in. It is unbelievably competitive. We have a good direction for the race set-up tomorrow but the tyres will be critical. We are just trying to pick the best one for the endurance because the temperature is a lot higher than when we tested here. It is unusually high for this time of year and I think we could do with something a bit stronger. But everybody is in the same boat. Colin showed what this package is capable of but I paid the price for not feeling too great. But credit to Colin because he got the job done." Qualifying 1 Pos., Rider, Manu., Nat., Total Time 1, Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha, ESP, 1'38.189 2, Daniel Pedrosa, Honda, ESP, 1'38.789 3, Colin Edwards, Yamaha, USA, 1'38.954 4, Nicky Hayden, Honda, USA, 1'39.061 5, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, ITA, 1'39.064 6, Randy De Puniet, Honda, FRA, 1'39.122 7, Casey Stoner, Ducati, AUS, 1'39.286 8, James Toseland, Yamaha, GBR, 1'39.334 9, John Hopkins, Kawasaki, USA, 1'39.439 10, Loris Capirossi, Suzuki, ITA, 1'39.484 11, Shinya Nakano, Honda, JPN, 1'39.559 12, Chris Vermeulen, Suzuki, AUS, 1'39.704 13, Andrea Dovizioso, Honda, ITA, 1'39.767 14, Alex De Angelis, Honda, SMR, 1'40.037 15, Anthony West, Kawasaki, AUS, 1'40.088