Lorenzo Scores At Silverstone

Paul Carruthers | June 19, 2010

World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo survived a dramatic final few moments of qualifying for tomorrow’s Airasia British Grand Prix, the Spaniard taking over the top spot with three minutes to go and then watching his front-row rivals crash out on their final laps.Lorenzo put in a best lap of 2:03.688 with three to go to move ahead of the hard-riding Randy de Puniet, the Frenchman crashing out on his final lap as he made a bid for his first-ever MotoGP pole. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, meanwhile, also crashed on the last lap, the Spaniard appearing to have injured his left ankle after losing the front at speed. He was transported to the infield medical center in an ambulance, but walked into the center under his own power. DePuniet and Pedrosa, however, held on to their spots in second and third, respectively, behind Lorenzo, who earned his first pole position of the season.”I don’t know… I just pushed all the practice at the beginning with the hard tire and at the end with the soft tire,” Lorenzo said. “I just drive so well. I felt so comfortable on the bike.”De Puniet was a happy second and uninjured from his crash.”I’m very happy to be on the first row – that was my target,” de Puniet said. “Jorge [Lorenzo] was faster than me and I pushed too much and did a mistake. Its not a problem for me and my bike is good and I think we have a good target and we will see tomorrow. I think it is better for me to crash today because I will be more quiet for the race.”The front row for tomorrow’s race will be led by Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian moving past Marlboro Ducati’s Nicky Hayden in the in final moments after Hayden had jumped up to fourth with some five minutes to go. Dovizioso lapped at 2:04.244 with Hayden’s best a 2:04.332 – 1.024 seconds behind Lorenzo on the nearly four-mile track.Dovizioso and Hayden will be joined on the second row by Hayden’s Ducati teammate Casey Stoner.Texan Ben Spies will start tomorrow’s British GP at the head of row three with Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli set to join him there.Spies’ Monster Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards ended the session in 10th.

Final Qualifying

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 2:03.688

2. Randy de Puniet (Honda) 2:03.442

3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 2:03.586

4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 2:04.244

5. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 2:04.332

6. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 2:04.394

7. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 2:04.477

8. Marco Melandri (Honda) 2:04.555

9. Marco Simoncelli (Honda) 2:04.868

10. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 2:05.035