MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo is on track for another victory at Estoril after claiming pole on Saturday.

MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has secured pole position for the Grand Prix of Portugal at Estoril, stealing the top spot with less than five minutes remaining in the session.

Yamaha rider Lorenzo’s best lap of 1:37.161 edged out early pace-setter Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Gresini Honda), who crashed out late in the session but was able to remain second with a 1:37.294.

Lorenzo’s form comes at a crucial time as he leads the world title following victory at Jerez, and he was happy to seal his first pole position of the season aboard the factory YZR-M1.

“At the end with a soft tyre I tried to make a pace,” the Spaniard said. “It was important to make a good lap time, but also to prepare for tomorrow’s race and that’s going to be quite close. We are confident.”

Simoncelli was able to seal second despite missing the final minutes of the hour-long session, and he’s confident he has the pace over the race distance for Sunday.

“I have a good rhythm and I am so confident for tomorrow,” Simoncelli said. “I’m disappointed with the crash because after the first part of the practice I thought that it could be possible to take pole position, but anyway the important part is tomorrow’s race.”

Jumping up to third in the final moments was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, while teammate Casey Stoner was on track for pole until the final split saw him drop to fourth overall.

Rounding out the top five was Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies ahead of another factory Honda in Andrea Dovizioso, while Monster Tech 3 Yamaha teammates Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow were seventh and eighth respectively.

Completing the top 10 were Ducati riders Valentino Rossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) and Hector Barbera (Aspar Ducati).

Coverage on ONE HD will commence at 8:00pm AEST on Sunday night in Australia.

2011 MotoGP World Championship
Round Three – Estoril, Portugal

MotoGP Qualifying:
1. Jorge LORENZO 1:37.161
2. Marco SIMONCELLI 1:37.294
3. Dani PEDROSA 1:37.324
4. Casey STONER 1:37.384
5. Ben SPIES 1:37.866
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1:38.073
7. Colin EDWARDS 1:38.080
8. Cal CRUTCHLOW 1:38.189
9. Valentino ROSSI 1:38.271
10. Hector BARBERA 1:38.363
11. Hiroshi AOYAMA 1:38.497
12. Karel ABRAHAM 1:38.786
13. Nicky HAYDEN 1:38.922
14. Loris CAPIROSSI 1:38.934
15. Alvaro BAUTISTA 1:39.172
16. Randy DE PUNIET 1:39.378
17. Toni ELIAS 1:39.894