Jorge Lorenzo rode to the pole position in Malaysia this morning, beating out Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso. It is Lorenzo's 6th pole position this MotoGP season.Lorenzo is just 7 points away from clinching the MotoGP title, and with the first spot on the grid, he puts himself in a great position to do so during tomorrow's race on the Sepang track. The Fiat Yamaha rider needs a ninth place finish or better to clinch the title. Lorenzo has yet to finish below fourth this season.
Nicky Hayden led late in the session, but he couldn't match Lorenzo's 2'01.537 time. Hayden did claim his second front row start of the season, and showed that he had the pace to keep up with the season leader during tomorrow's race.
Hayden was followed by Andrea Dovizioso. Dovizioso claimed his first pole position last time out at Motegi, and still looks to be in good form in Malaysia.
The second row will be made up of Ben Spies, Casey Stoner, and Valentino Rossi. Spies held the lead in the qualifying session with ten minutes remaining, but a flurry of fast laps dropped the MotoGP rookie down to fourth.
Stoner, who is going for his third consecutive win, narrowly beat out Valentino Rossi by .07 seconds. Colin Edwards, Alvaro Bautisata, Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri finish out the top ten.
