Assen MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo continues Dutch domination

Jorge Lorenzo continued his sparkling form in the 80th Dutch TT at Assen today as the MotoGP world championship leader claimed pole position.

Lorenzo maintained his 100 per cent front row starting record this year with a best lap of 1.34.515 that put the 23-year-old 0.282s clear of the superb satellite Honda rider Randy de Puniet.

Lorenzo had led by LCR Honda rider de Puniet by 0.111s but his last lap increased that advantage with the French rider able to claim second on the grid for the second successive race.

The former factory Kawasaki rider clocked a best time of 1.34.797 while in pursuit of factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa with just over ten minutes remaining.

Aussie Casey Stoner’s best lap of 1.34.803 saw him claim only his fourth front row start of the season as the 24-year-old goes in search of his first podium finish of the 2010 campaign.

Stoner ended just 0.006s behind de Puniet and 0.288s adrift of Lorenzo.
Ben Spies continued his brilliant form to claim the best qualifying result of his short MotoGP career.

The Texan missed out on a maiden front row start by just 0.123s as a lap of 1.34.926 with just over a minute remaining just failed to overhaul Stoner.

Spies is bidding for a second successive podium after his stunning third place at Silverstone last weekend. Fourth beat his previous qualifying best of fifth in Indianapolis back in 2008 when he was a wild card for Suzuki.

Fellow American Nicky Hayden will start from the second row for the fifth consecutive race after a lap of 1.34.999 left him 0.484 off pole position.

The 2006 Assen winner is looking to improve on his best result of fourth place in 2010.

Repsol Honda had a tough day with Andrea Dovizioso slipping down from third to sixth with a best lap of 1.35.015.

And one place further back in seventh was team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who never looked in serious contention to claim his fifth front row in the opening six races.

The Spaniard ended with a best lap of 1.35.162 to beat Marco Simoncelli and Colin Edwards.