Yamaha riders to start 1-2 in Portugal

Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since Laguna Seca back in June at Estoril this afternoon, the Mallorcan sealing his fifth pole of the season with a strong performance ahead of tomorrow's Portuguese Grand Prix. His Fiat Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi meanwhile took his eleventh front row of the season and will start tomorrow's race from second, with Casey Stoner taking the final front row slot. Dani Pedrosa will start 4th on his Honda.

Having topped both practice sessions this weekend, Lorenzo was the clear favorite for pole this afternoon and the 22-year-old looked smooth and comfortable out on track as he made a few last-minute setting changes before the fight for grid spots. With twenty minutes remaining he took the lead and didn't surrender it for the rest of the session, improving his time several times and never looking in much danger from his rivals.

Rossi had a few problems yesterday but was in better shape today, having improved the balance of his M1 in the hard braking zones. His penultimate lap was good enough to put him second although he was unable to quite match his team-mate's pace on the softer Bridgestone tire today. The championship leader is planning a few overnight improvements in order to ensure he is at the maximum for the race.

Tomorrow's 28-lap race gets underway at the slightly earlier time than usual of 1300 local time, which is 1400 CET.

Lineup