Jorge Lorenzo sets new lap record at Sepang

The MotoGP World Championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo, scored a superb pole at the Sepang circuit, well clear of his main title rival, Dani Pedrosa. The Mallorca-born rider set a new lap record for the Malaysian track –beating the mark set by Valentino Rossi in 2009– by clocking a time of 2:00.334.

This is Lorenzo's third pole on the bounce and his seventh of the season. Despite the recent race victories for Dani Pedrosa, Lorenzo once again turned on the speed in qualifying, leaving his rival trailing 0.194 seconds behind in second place.

The Italian Andrea Dovizioso completes the front row, after recording the third-best time, while Australia's Casey Stoner came in fourth.

Héctor Barberá was the best of the rest where Spain's riders were concerned, registering the seventh-fastest time, which put him ahead of the other Ducatis. Álvaro Bautista was forced to settle for tenth, after suffering a fall towards the end of the session, although fortunately he was unhurt.

In Moto2, another Spaniard flew the flag, Pol Espargaró grabbing his sixth pole of the season. Espargaró edged out Scott Redding, who qualified second, and the championship leader Marc Márquez, who was left third. In Moto3, Malaysia's Zulfahmi Khairuddin thrilled the home crowd and notched a personal milestone with his first ever pole.

Source: Marca