Jorge Lorenzo en route to pole position at Phillip Island. Image: MotoGP.com.

Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo will start from pole position for tomorrow’s Tissot Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island after edging out champion-elect Marc Marquez by a 0.221-second margin.

Lorenzo’s 1m27.899 record lap proved the benchmark time of the session run in warm, clear conditions, but it wasn’t without drama for the Yamaha Factory Racing frontrunner who was able to forge on despite clipping a seagull as he toured the oceanside circuit.

The result marks Lorenzo’s first pole position since Jerez in May, and third of the season so far.

His task tomorrow will be to finish ahead of Repsol Honda’s Marquez, who remains on course to seal a maiden MotoGP crown in his rookie season.

Marquez split the factory M1 riders on the front row, with Valentino Rossi putting in a strong showing to qualify third.

Fourth place went the way of satellite Honda rider Alvaro Bautista, who slotted the GO&FUN Gresini machine in ahead of Dani Pedrosa, who was some way off the pace in fifth.

Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith delivered times good for sixth and seventh on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha bikes, with teammates Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso also finishing line of stern behind them on the factory Ducatis, eighth and ninth respectively.

Andrea Iannone completed the top 10 and ensured the prototype machines all finished in front of the production-based CRT mounts, with the sub-class headed up by NGN Mobile Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards ahead of Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy De Puniet.

Home favourites Bryan Staring (GO&FUN Gresini Honda) and Damian Cudlin (Paul Bird Motorsport) maintained their placings from earlier sessions, finishing 21st and 23rd respectively.

Tuenti HP 40 teammates Pol Espargaro and Esteve Rabat registered a one-two finish in Moto2 qualifying which was restarted following a dramatic crash for Thai rider Thitipong Warokorn.

Warokorn was stretchered from the circuit after heavy contact with the tyre barrier upon exit of the final corner, and the second-half of the session would be characterised by a number of crashes as riders pushed to take a better grid place for tomorrow’s race which will be run at only half distances due to compounding tyre issues.

The major incident involved points leader Scott Redding, who was bucked from his Marc VDS machine as he ventured onto the straight.

Upon examination at the circuit medical centre, it was confirmed that the Brit had suffered a fractured wrist, with his fitness ahead of tomorrow’s race in question.

Jordi Torres put together a clean run to claim the final front row starting place on his Aspar Team Moto2 mount, while Aussie hopes rest with QMMF Racing Team rider Ant West, who will start out of position 20.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Luis Salom took pole for the Moto3 class race, breaking into the 1m36s barrier, 0.378 seconds clear of Mapre Aspar team’s Jonas Folger (second) and a further 0.024 seconds ahead of Mahindra Racing’s Efren Vaquez (third)

Row two is headed up by Maverick Vinales on the Team Calvo KTM, and there will be plenty of focus on his teammate heading up row three, Spanish talent Ana Carrasco.

Jack Miller scored a top 10 placing on his Caretta Technology mount and was the fastest of the locals, with Arthur Sissis taking 16th.

The remaining Aussie wildcards Lachlan Kavney and Callum Barker round out the field in 34th and 35th.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round 16 – Phillip Island, Australia

MotoGP qualifying:
1. Jorge LORENZO 1m27.899
2. Marc MARQUEZ 1m28.120
3. Valentino ROSSI 1m28.647
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA 1m28.713
5. Dani PEDROSA 1m28.748
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW 1m28.809
7. Bradley SMITH 1m28.941
8. Nicky HAYDEN 1m29.295
9. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 1m29.660
10. Andrea IANNONE 1m29.756
11. Colin EDWARDS 1m30.264
12. Randy DE PUNIET
13. Aleix ESPARGARO 1m30.081
14. Claudio CORTI 1m30.530
15. Yonny HERNANDEZ 1m30.641
16. Hiroshi AOYAMA 1m30.733
17. Danilo PETRUCCI 1m30.894
18. Michael LAVERTY 1m30.979
19. Hector BARBERA 1m31.061
20. Luca SCASSA 1m31.093
21. Bryan STARING 1m31.775
23. Damian CUDLIN 1m33.007

Moto2 qualifying:
1. Pol ESPARGARO 1m32.530
2. Esteve RABAT 1m32.540
3. Jordi TORRES 1m32.769
4. Alex DE ANGELIS 1m32.769
5. Thomas LUTHI 1m32.817
6. Mika KALLIO 1m32.833
7. Sandro CORTESE 1m32.893
8. Nicolas TEROL 1m32.902
9. Mattia PASINI 1m32.946
10. Scott REDDING 1m32.962
11. Xavier SIMEON 1m33.064
12. Johann ZARCO 1m33.076
15. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 1m33.232
16. Julian SIMON 1m33.310
17. Axel PONS 1m33.450
18. Marcel SCHROTTER 1m33.482
19. Louis ROSSI 1m34.037
20. Anthony WEST 1m34.092

Moto3 qualifying:
1. Luis SALOM 1m36.890
2. Jonas FOLGER 1m37.268
3. Efren VAZQUEZ 1m37.292
4. Maverick VIÑALES 1m37.361
5. Alex RINS 1m37.382
6. Isaac VIÑALES 1m37.543
7. Ana CARRASCO 1m37.544
8. Miguel OLIVEIRA 1m37.553
9. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN 1m37.685
10. Jack MILLER 1m37.747
11. Alexis MASBOU 1m37.774
12. Niccolò ANTONELLI 1m37.847
13. Alex MARQUEZ 1m37.875
14. Jakub KORNFEIL 1m38.074
15. Brad BINDER 1m38.077
16. Arthur SISSIS 1m38.111
17. Romano FENATI 1m38.124
18. Alan TECHER 1m38.164
19. John MCPHEE 1m38.182
20. Philipp OETTL 1m38.258
34. Lachlan KAVNEY (AUS) 1m43.421
Callum BARKER (AUS) 1m45.949

Click here for detailed results