Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner secured his first pole of the season in the qualifying session for the Grande Prémio de Portugal Circuito Estoril just edging teammate Dani Pedrosa into second.
In the final four minutes, Stoner took his lap time down to 1.37´188 which proved enough to push Dani Pedrosa into second place on the grid. Pedrosa will be looking to repeat his win here last year. Monster Yamaha Tech 3´s 'man of the moment' of the season Cal Crutchlow, secured his second front-row start in three races while Yamaha Factory Racing´s Jorge Lorenzo could only manage fourth to be on the second row.
Lorenzo said after the sessions that was unhappy with his performance,remarkabley this is the first time in his MotoGP career that he has not started on the front row at Estoril.
Behind him in fifth, is Ben Spies as the Yamaha rider left it late to put in his fast lap, after struggling to negotiate traffic throughout the session, which saw him almost collide with Mattia Pasini.
Completeing the second row is San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Álvaro Bautista, who has finally got to grips with the Honda, getting ever more comfortable. Seventh place went to Monster Yamaha Tech 3's other rider Andrea Dovizioso, who has been out-qualified by team-mate Crutchlow for the third time in a row.
Pramac Racing´s Héctor Barberá took the top Ducati place finishing in eighth place ahead of Ducati Team rider Valentino Rossi in ninth. Rossi will not be happy with this grid position, but can take heart from closing the gap between him and the front row to less than a second. Nicky Hayden, was unable to repeat his front-row heroics from Jerez managing only tenth place. Aleix Espargaró - Power Electronics Aspar´s in 12th was the top CRT finisher.
The session was red flagged 11 minutes before the end when Power Electronics Aspar´s Randy de Puniet lost his bike and brought Colin Edwards on his NGM Mobile Forward Racing bike down which resulted in a broken collarbonefor Edwards. De Puniet has abrasion to one of his fingers and contusions to his left shoulder. The session resumed shortly after.
