Jorge Lorenzo´s dream start to his MotoGP career continued in qualifying for the Gran Premio bwin.com de España, with the Spaniard taking pole position for his home race courtesy of an amazing series of laps. In doing so, the Fiat Yamaha rider made it two pole positions in as many races in the premier class, an impressive 100% record that proves the 20 year-old is very much the real deal on an 800cc machine.

The 1´38.189 lap that places Lorenzo at the head of Sunday´s grid smashed the previous pole position record -set by Loris Capirossi in 2006- by over eight tenths of a second, and was the last of three blistering hot laps from the reigning 250cc World Champion. After improving his time on the second occasion, Lorenzo pulled a huge wheelie, to the delight of the ecstatic Circuito de Jerez crowd rooting for their hero at this weekend´s race.

Spanish fans will have divided loyalties when the lights go out tomorrow afternoon, with Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa also fighting his way to the front row. On any other day his time would have seen a second pole position at Jerez in as many years for the factory rider but, as it was, not even the 2007 World Championship runner up could get anywhere near Lorenzo´s marker. Pedrosa´s fastest lap was dead-on six tenths slower than his long-time rival.

For the second race in succession, Colin Edwards bolstered the Yamaha representation on the front row. The `Texas Tornado´ was the final rider to breach the 1´39 mark, riding with the older version of the M1 used by the Tech 3 satellite outfit. The man from the lone star state also provided ample entertainment for those in the grandstands, putting in an early contender for save of the season when his elbow and knee were both scraping the asphalt and following that up with a wave to the crowd.

Row two is an equally star-studded affair, with 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden lining up alongside five-time titlist and frequent Jerez victor Valentino Rossi. The latter -onboard the second Fiat Yamaha M1- was the highest placing Bridgestone rider of the session. The former champions will be joined by LCR Honda´s Randy de Puniet, who suffered a late crash to put a dampener on his afternoon.

In his lowest qualifying finish since Motegi 2007, current World Champion and series leader Casey Stoner had a frustrating time of things and could only manage seventh place on the grid despite using a wealth of qualifying tyres. The Ducati Marlboro star showed rare signs of stress during the session, culminating in a kick aimed at former team-mate Capirossi on his final lap.

Battling bronchitis, Tech 3 Yamaha´s James Toseland will be side-by-side with Stoner on row three, joined by John Hopkins from Kawasaki Racing.

Further crashes came from San Carlo Gresini Honda´s Alex de Angelis and Ducati Marlboro newcomer Marco Melandri, with the Italian factory having a difficult day all round in Jerez.
 

250cc Spanish star Alvaro Bautista sent fans at Jerez home happy, with a quarter litre class pole position in the final activity of the day adding to their elation. The Mapfre Aspar rider and former 125cc World Champion cut nearly a second off his Friday best time to take his first top spot of the season.

Bautista clocked a time of 1´43.071 to dislodge Red Bull KTM´s Mika Kallio from the head of the grid, with a difference of just 0.040 separating the two riders. Joining both on the front row of the grid on Sunday will be Lotus Aprilia´s Alex Debon, providing the Spanish veteran experiences no lasting effects of a last minute tumble that left him in some discomfort.

Row one is completed by Emmi-Caffe Latte´s Thomas Luthi, with the second line of attack housing the KTM-running duo of Julian Simon and Hiroshi Aoyama, home rider Hector Barbera and Roberto Locatelli from Metis Gilera. The latter´s performance deserves special attention, coming after the practice crash at the Circuito de Jerez last year that left many doubting if he would ever ride again.

As in 125cc, the current World Championship leader was unable to place higher than the third row, as Polaris World´s Mattia Pasini finished the afternoon in tenth.
 

Three weeks on from his first 125cc pole position in Qatar, Polaris World Aprilia´s Bradley Smith will once again head the lower cylinder category grid at Jerez. The Briton put in a stinging one-two combo of hot laps in the final five minutes of the session, the eventual knockout blow to the competition a 1'48.587 time half-a-second ahead of any rival.

With that final push, Smith demoted home rider Nico Terol from provisional pole to second on the grid, the first front row of the Jack&Jones WRB man´s career. Smith now has a nervous night ahead, with his fingers crossed that there is no repeat of the mechanical problems experienced by his bike in either Qatar or last year´s Jerez visit (when it was ridden by Mattia Pasini)

Once again sneaking amongst the frontrunners, Stefan Bradl put himself on the first row after a sterling session with the Grizzly Gas Kiefer Racing Aprilia. The German will be alongside not only his fellow teenagers Smith and Terol, but also experienced 125cc veteran and reigning World Champion Gabor Talmacsi, with the holeshot set to be eagerly contested on Sunday.

Simone Corsi leads off row two onboard the second Jack&Jones WRB machine, alongside the ever-improving American Stevie Bonsey, French Derbi rider Mike di Meglio and rookie sensation Scott Redding.

There was no room for current series leader Sergio Gadea in the top ten, and he closes the third row in a less-than-ideal position for the still-tender Spaniard. However, as seen in Qatar, the Mapfre Aspar rider recovering from a dislocated collarbone is not to be ruled out, whatever the circumstances.

from InfoMotoGP