Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo claimed pole position for today’s third round of the MotoGP World Championship with the fastest lap in qualifying at Jerez.

The factory Yamaha rider, who heads the standings with Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez on 41 points, set a best time of one minute 38.673 seconds in the final qualifying session at the Spanish circuit.

Lorenzo, yesterday celebrating his 26th birthday, just edged out fellow Spaniard and Marquez’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa by 0.247 seconds.

Marquez was third quickest to complete the front row of the grid. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Cal Crutchlow heads up the second row of the grid along with multiple champion Valentino Rossi on the second factory Yamaha and the Gresini Honda of Alvaro Bautista.

The factory Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were seventh and ninth respectively, with Stefan Bradl in between on the LCR Honda.

Hector Barbera (Avintia Blu-sens), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Crutchlow’s team-mate Bradley Smith completed the fourth row.

Current standings
Lorenzo 41; Marquez 41; Pedrosa 33; Rossi 30; Crutchlow 24; Bautista 18; Dovizioso 18; Hayden 15; Iannone 13; Bradl 11.

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