Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo has claimed his 4th Estoril pole position with a stunning lap of 1:37.161s, coming a clear tenth of a second ahead of San Carlo Honda Gresini‘s Marco Simoncelli who had led most of the session. Simoncelli fell with 5 minutes remaining and was unable to defend his place at the front of the grid.
Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner line up in 3rd and 4th on the grid on their Repsol Hondas, after a tight session which saw the four separated by just 0.223s. Yamaha’s Ben Spies will line up in the middle of Row 2 with Andrea Dovizioso lining up alongside on the final Repsol Honda in 6th.
The Monster Yamaha Tech3 duo of Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow fill Row 3 with Crutchlow being as high as 6th at one point in the session, another achievement under his belt, considering he has never raced around the Estoril circuit and has to have fluid removed from his arm after every session, due to an ongoing issue with arm pump. Valentino Rossi will line up at the back of the third row on the highest placed Ducati.
Row 4 will be headed by the satellite Mapfre Aspar Ducati of Hector Barbera in 10th with Hiroshi Aoyama on the second San Carlo machine. Another man who had a promising session was Karel Abraham. The Czech rider lines up in 12th on the Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati, having been as high as 7th midway through the session.
Nicky Hayden‘s woes continue as the Ducati rider lines up at the head of Row 5 followed by the lead Pramac Ducati of Loris Capirossi in 14th. Capirossi will be hoping for changeable conditions tomorrow, as he topped the timesheets in the final free practice session. A stellar result for Ãlvaro Bautista sees him line up in 15th on the Rizla Suzuki.
Randy De Puniet lines up in 16th on the second Pramac Ducati ahead of Toni Elias on the LCR Honda.
