2012 Sepang MotoGP Qualifying Result: Pole Record Smashed In Late Charge

Results and summary of qualifying for the MotoGP class at Sepang:

Jorge Lorenzo has taken his sixth pole position of the year, seizing control of qualifying in the very last minutes and smashing the pole record in the process. Lorenzo seized both pole position and some of the initiative at Sepang, after Dani Pedrosa had dominated for much of free practice and the first 45 minutes of the qualifying session. Pedrosa looked set for pole until Lorenzo's final two laps, but the Repsol Honda man could not match the pace of the Yamaha, Pedrosa suffering once again with the chatter which has plagued the Honda all season. Pedrosa ended in 2nd nearly two tenths behind Lorenzo.

With the two championship contenders in the first two places, Andrea Dovizioso was forced to settle for 3rd. The Monster Tech 3 Yamaha man had been very fast once qualifying began in earnest, but could not quite keep up with Pedrosa, losing out to Pedrosa by less than four hundredths of a second. Though Dovizioso has been on the podium six times this year, this is only his second front row start.

Casey Stoner heads up row two, the Australian fast for most of the track but suffering on the two long straights, the places where he has to push himself forward to keep the front wheel down, something which is almost impossible in the tropical heat. Stoner leads the remaining Yamahas, Cal Crutchlow taking 5th, while Ben Spies grabbed 6th. Hector Barbera is the fastest of the Ducatis, the Spaniard once again making good use of a tow to head up the third row of the grid. Barbera sits in front of LCR Honda's Stefan Bradl and the factory Ducati of Nicky Hayden, while Alvaro Bautista will start from 10th, after a crash late in the session put paid to any chances of improving his qualifying position. Valentino Rossi, whose pole position record Jorge Lorenzo finally took from him on Saturday, starts from 11th.

Results: