Lorenzo seizes US MotoGP pole

Spanish Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo shrugged off a spectacular practice crash to capture pole position for Sunday's MotoGP US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway. Lorenzo, who arrived Stateside chasing Australian Casey Stoner for the series points lead, on Saturday clocked the fastest qualifying time of 1min 21.202sec, edging Stoner who was second-quickest in 1:21.274. Stoner's Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa of Spain was third-quickest, with Lorenzo's factory Yamaha teammate Ben Spies fourth. Lorenzo's second pole position of the season came after he was sent flying in the morning's third and final free practice. After a few moments on the ground, he was able to stand and limp off the track. He was checked by doctors at the race medical center and cleared for qualifying. "It was a very ugly crash this morning. When I hit the ground I was full of pain and I was thinking that the race was over for me," Lorenzo admitted. "Fortunately after some minutes the pain was going little by little. But to be in the first position is better than I expected." Lorenzo was still limping after qualifying, but said the discomfort was less when he was riding. "On the bike I don't feel so much pain, so I could go fast from the beginning and then make a very good lap time with the soft tyres," he said. "We are very proud of this result." Lorenzo was fast early in qualifying, but it wasn't until his 35th and final lap that he notched his pole-winning time to deny Stoner, who had boasted the fastest time from the three practice sessions. Pedrosa, winner of the German Grand Prix last weekend, finished .183sec off the qualifying pace. Spies was .376sec behind Lorenzo. Despite booking a front-row spot on the starting grid, Stoner wasn't sounding optimistic. "For the whole session we were trying to find the right set up," said the Aussie, who brings a 15-point lead over Lorenzo atop the standings into Sunday's race. "All weekend we've been struggling a little and we've not found anything I'm comfortable with. "I've closed the front many times and we're still looking to find some balance on the bike to get it working on this track, where we expected it to work well." After Lorenzo had set a target with a fast lap 15 minutes into the session, America's Spies delighted the home fans when he took provisional pole with 15 minutes remaining. However, a crash with five minutes remaining left Spies' machine damaged and he was knocked into fourth place as Lorenzo delivered his scorching late run. "I made a mistake and locked the front up on the brakes going in to turn three trying super hard to get on the front row," Spies said. "I banged my hand up quite a bit but it will be fine and ready for the race tomorrow." Italian Marco Simoncelli, who put his Honda on pole at Barcelona and Assen this season, was fifth-fastest. Alvaro Bautista emerged unhurt after crashing his Suzuki in qualifying. France's Randy de Puniet also crashed heavily.