MOTEGI, Japan — Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo secured his sixth pole position of the MotoGP season with a record last-gasp spurt in qualifying for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. The Yamaha rider clocked a record lap of one minute, 44.969 seconds as the checkered flag fell at Motegi's Twin Ring circuit Saturday, comfortably faster than main title rival Dani Pedrosa's Honda. Fellow Spaniard Pedrosa had surged to the top of the timesheets with a 1:45.215 with four minutes remaining before Lorenzo's late burst of speed moved him closer to a second premier class world title. “I needed to push more than 100 percent in the last lap,” Lorenzo told reporters. “I'm very happy with the pole and the performance of the bike, and the pace we had.” Britain's Cal Crutchlow was third quickest in 1:45.257 with American Ben Spies, also on a Yamaha, fourth in 1:45.336. “I should have been on pole, 100 percent,” said Crutchlow. “It was a good opportunity for pole, but something was broken on the bike it seems, and the part where I nearly crashed I had a massive vibration on the main straight.” Australian world champion Casey Stoner, returning after ankle surgery, was seventh quickest on his Honda in 1:45.745 having missed the last three races. “I'm not feeling 100 percent so I wanted to get a reasonable feeling with it before I start pushing,” said Stoner. Pedrosa trimmed Lorenzo's lead at the top of the standings to 33 points with four races left by winning at Aragon two weeks ago. Lorenzo, hot favorite to win his second MotoGP title following his maiden victory in 2010, has 290 points. Pedrosa has 257 with third-placed Stoner on 186. MotoGP organizers Dorna, meanwhile, said Saturday they had agreed a new deal with Honda-owned Mobilityland that will see the Japanese Grand Prix being held at the Twin Ring Motegi track until 2018. — Agencies
