MotoGP: Lorenzo takes pole at Estoril

Lorenzo... on pole for Sunday's Portuguese GP

Jorge Lorenzo took his third MotoGP pole position in a row at Estoril today setting a new lap record ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix.

Lorenzo torched Estoril's MotoGP lap record by posting a 1:35.715 best with 3 minutes of the hour-long session remaining.

Fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa took second place on the grid with a 1:35.948 - beating third place man, Valentino Rossi who held pole for much of the session but couldn't quite match his team-mate's stunning performance.

Britain's James Toseland, riding a Tech 3 Yamaha, improved on yesterday's disappointing performance and even held pole for a short time, posting a 1:36.790 to secure sixth place on the grid.

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner struggled to gain any decent pace from his Ducati Desmosedici, finishing the session in a lowly (for him) ninth place. Team-mate Marco Melandri had a bad run yet again, failing to get into the top sixteen

Portuguese Grand Prix Qualifying Results

1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory 1:35.715

2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda HRC 1:35.948

3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory 1:36.199

4 Nicky Hayden Honda HRC 1:36.266

5 Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech3 1:36.289

6 James Toseland Yamaha Tech3 1:36.790

7 Andrea Dovizioso Honda Scot 1:36.998

8 Randy De Puniet Honda LCR 1:37.223

9 Casey Stoner Ducati MotoGP 1:37.253

10 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing 1:37.346

11 Shinya Nakano Honda Gresini 1:37.664

12 Loris Capirossi Suzuki MotoGP 1:37.786

13 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki MotoGP 1:37.843

14 Antonio Elias Ducati d Antin 1:38.561

15 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing 1:38.775

16 Alex De Angelis Honda Gresini 1:38.823