Lorenzo on pole for race in Montmelo

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo continued to set the pace at Montmelo yesterday, taking pole position for the Catalan MotoGP.

In the absence of his injured Yamaha team-mate, champion Valentino Rossi, the Spaniard is on course for a hat-trick of wins and will start from the front today after setting the quickest time of 1:42.046 on his penultimate lap.

Australian Casey Stoner was pushed back into second on a Ducati, 0.364 secs behind Lorenzo. Frenchman Randy de Puniet completes the front row on a Honda.

Just over half a second behind Lorenzo, Spanish compatriot Dani Pedrosa was fourth fastest and heads up the second row with American Ben Spies and Italian Andrea Dovizioso.

Lorenzo won the previous race of the championship in Assen, Netherlands, last month to extend his lead to 47 points.

In front of a crowd of more than 97,000, Pedrosa finished in second place on a Honda, while Stoner was third on a Ducati for his first podium finish this year.

Rossi is currently out of competition after breaking his leg in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

He hopes to be fit for the Czech Grand Prix at Brno in August but it could be too late to make an impact on the title race.

MotoGP Standings
Lorenzo 140; Pedrosa 93; Dovizioso 89; Rossi 61; Hayden 61; De Punient 56; Stoner 51; Spies 49; Simoncelli 39; Edwards 34.