Fire and flames characterized this afternoon’s MotoGP qualifying session at the Sachsenring circuit with Jorge Lorenzo snatching his fourth consecutive pole position of the season.
The Spaniard grabbed the top spot despite his Yamaha M1 blowing up on the front straight spewing oil on turn one, the Coca Cola Kurve, causing a crash that brought down Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet.
The session was red flagged while the track was cleaned and filler laid down.
When the action resumed Lorenzo was able to put down a best lap of 1.
21.
817 that put him at the head of the grid.
Casey Stoner with his Ducati D16 sporting new winglets, took second and was just 0.
24s from the Fiat Yamaha rider.
Dani Pedrosa rounded out the front row and was just 0.
131s off Lorenzo’s best time.
Andrea Dovizioso finished in fourth unable to break the 1.
21 mark, but he was ahead of Valentino Rossi who managed a fifth place in the session in his return to racing after breaking his lower right leg at the Mugello.
Rossi is more that half a second off his team mate’s fastest lap.
Hector Barbera took his best MotoGP qualifying performance of the season finishing in sixth.
Randy de Puniet who despite not finishing the session after his crash will start in seventh and the latest news from the Clinica Mobile report that the French rider has not broken any bones, so we’ll see him in action tomorrow afternoon.
Rookies Marco Simoncelli and Aleix Espargaro were 8th and 9th, while Marco Melandri rounded out the top 10.
Colin Edwards, Ben Spies and Nicky Hayden all struggled in the session finishing in 12, 13th and 15th respectively.
Alex de Angelis in his comeback to MotoGP for Interwetten Racing, crashed out at the Waterfall with only 4 minutes remaining with start 17th and last.
MotoGP Sachsenring Qualifying Results:01- Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – 1′21.
81702- Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.
02403- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
13104- Andrea Dovizioso – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC212V – + 0.
44605- Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha Team – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.
57806- Hector Barbera – Paginas Amarillas Aspar – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 0.
63707- Randy De Puniet – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 0.
79308- Marco Simoncelli – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 0.
80709- Aleix Espargaro – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
09310- Marco Melandri – San Carlo Honda Gresini – Honda RC212V – + 1.
10011- Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
14412- Colin Edwards – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
20913- Ben Spies – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.
21114- Loris Capirossi – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
22315- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP10 – + 1.
27316- Alvaro Bautista – Rizla Suzuki MotoGP – Suzuki GSV-R – + 1.
37617- Alex De Angelis – Interwetten Honda MotoGP – Honda RC212V – + 1.
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