Lorenzo claims pole in Spain's motorcycling Grand Prix

Spanish world champion Jorge Lorenzo will start on pole for Sunday's Spanish MotoGP Grand Prix in Jerez as he pipped compatriots Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez in Saturday's final qualifying session. The Yamaha rider, who was fastest in three of the four practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, clocked 1:38:673 to qualify fastest but was helped by a series of crashes that disrupted his rivals sessions. Pedrosa and Marquez both tumbled as the warm weather made track conditions difficult for the drivers and Lorenzo was delighted to have granted himself the perfect birthday present. "I'm happy with this pole position, it's a good present for my birthday! I knew the track was not perfect, it's very warm and there were a lot of crashes in Moto2 and the previous qualifying," he said afterwards. "It's going to be tough tomorrow, normally the lap time you make for qualifying you can't repeat in another time because the tyre drops. We hope to improve the bike a little bit to get more comfortable with pace. Anyway I think we can fight for the win or at least for the podium tomorrow." Pedrosa, who trails Lorenzo and Marquez by eight points in the championship standings after the first two races of the season, came in second with a time of 1:38:920. And Marquez, who is looking for a second consecutive win after becoming the youngest ever MotoGP winner at the Grand Prix of the Americas a fortnight ago, ensured the spectators were sent home happy with an all-Spanish front row as he came in third with a time of 1:38:971. Britain's Cal Crutchlow, who also suffered a fall on Saturday, will start in fourth with Lorenzo's team-mate the seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi back in fifth. There was even more Spanish success in Moto2 qualifying as Esteve Rabat secured the first pole of his career by almost half a second from Britain's Scott Redding and Japan's Takaaki Nakagimi who will start in second and third respectively. And there will also be a complete Spanish front row in the Moto3 race as Alex Rins claimed his second successive pole. The co-championship leader saw off compatriot Maverick Vinales by nearly half a second with Luis Salom back in third. From: AFP