28/04/12 - 1:55 PM
Finished
Spain Grand Prix
LIVE
Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto • Qualification
avant-match

Qualification

Follow the Grand Prix Spain live. This MotoGP race starts at 13:55 on 28 April 2012. Find race results, calendar, standings, scores and all of this season’s MotoGP races.
Motorcycling fans can read breaking Motorcycling news, interviews and expert commentary. Don’t miss the upcoming Motorcycling events. Make us your go-to source for sports online from Motorcycling to football and more.

    
30
Highlights 
 
 Remove
- 

Join us tomorrow for the Spanish GP from 1pm - we'll have lap-by-lap coverage.

-

What a dramatic qualifying session, and here's how they stand: 1-Lorenzo, 2-Pedrosa, 3-Hayden, 4-Crutchlow, 5-Stoner, 6-Spies, 7-Dovizioso, 8-Bautista, 9-Bradl, 10-De Puniet.

0'

Pedrosa and Lorenzo are both on one final lap... Pedrosa 1:40.229, Lorenzo 1:39.739 - POLE FOR LORENZO

0'

No improvement from Stoner - P5 and the chequered flag is out.

1'

Lorenzo has another crack - 0.004 off the pace after two sectors... 1:39.532 and P1 for Lorenzo!

2'

1:39.6 for Pedrosa! P1! No improvement for Lorenzo or Crutchlow!

3' 

Crutchlow and Dani Pedrosa are both on fliers... so too Lorenzo. Fascinating stuff.

4' 

Crutchlow goes P3, only to be shunted off the front row almost instantly by Nicky Hayden!

6' 

Massive wobble from Karel Abraham! Shaking and shuddering like mad...

7' 

Wow, Ben Spies goes P3 having endured a bit of a miserable few weeks. Great lap.

9' 

Most of the leading contenders are in the pits, getting fresh tyres and tweaking their settings ahead of a final blast. Crutchlow exits the pits...

10' 

Into the final 10 minutes - what dramas await us?

12' 

Fine lap from Nicky Hayden, who puts in easily the best Ducati lap of the session to go P3. Rossi is still labouring in 13th.

14' 

Faster from Lorenzo, it's a 1:40.500 for him. Crutchlow sits in the pits waiting. He is down to P4.

15' 

Crutchlow's bike will be no good for the rest of the session, which means Yamaha must quickly change the settings on his spare bike for the dry conditions.

17' 

Times are tumbling now - 1:40.6 for Lorenzo, 1:40.7 for Pedrosa. It's on.

18'

Crutchlow is down - pushes too hard in his bid to reclaim pole position. Rider OK, not sure about the bike.

19' 

Wow, and Jorge Lorenzo goes P1 now! 1:41.514 for the 2010 champion, who made up one and a half tenths in the final sector.

20'

P1 STONER! 1:41.644, and he goes quickest by two thousandths!

21' 

Stoner - 1:42.8 - over a second behind Crutchlow.

23' 

So, the rain has subsided, and though the black clouds remain the track looks fairly dry.

25' 

Ooh, Lorenzo is up to P3, so there is still some grip on the track. But the stewards are holding up the white and red 'rain' flags.

25' 

At the moment, the German rookie Stefan Bradl is set for a front row start! This would make for a fascinating race if it stays like this.

27' 

Lorenzo crosses the line at the end of a flier, and he is eight tenths off Cructhlow. It's really dark now.

28'

It's drizzly and gusty here - if this continues, there is no way Crutchlow's time will be surpassed, and what an achievement that will be for the man from Coventry!

30'

Drama! 1:41.646 and P1 for Cal Crutchlow, and just as he crosses the line the rain starts to fall! Is that perfect timing from the Briton?

31' 

Colin Edwards is off his bike ansd standing at the edge of the gravel - what's happened there? He has lost his Tech3 Yamaha, and the bike has fairly walloped into the crash padding. Edwards is fine, though.

32' 

Hello Dani Pedrosa! 1:41.965 for the Spanish Honda man. The teams are clearly expecting rain, because everyone is out and absolutely thrashing it.

33' 

Stefan Bradl has a big wobble and just about manages to stay aboard - and Cal Crutchlow takes P1 back - 1:42.2.

36'

Big moment for Casey Stoner! He has a huge wobble as the front goes, and he does very well to stay on!

37' 

Casey Stoner goes P1: 1:43.035 for the Australian.

39' 

No sooner do I say the weather looks OK, than a large bank of dark cloiud looms over the circuit. If that deposits its contents on the track, we could have a very interesting grid.

41' 

Cal Crutchlow's fans could be forgiven for praying for rain - he is on provisional pole, but in fact the weather looks set relatively fair for the rest of the session. Would be no surprise to see another couple of seconds taken off these times.

43' 

Ivan Silva finally gets a time lap in - it's a 1:47 to place him 17th, just ahead of James Ellison.

45'

Another crasher - it's Michele Pirro, who loses the front end and slides off. He looks fine, and hopefully there will be only minimal damage to the Italian's Gresini Honda.

46' 

The sun is out, the track continues to dry and the times fall - 1:43.202 for Crutchlow, who has been consistently the fastest man so far this session.

48' 

19 of the 21 riders have set a lap time - just the two Avintias who have yet to get on the scoreboard. Valentino Rossi is sixth, four places ahead of Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden.

50' 

P1 for Casey Stoner 1:45.4 - but Crutchlow then registers a 1:44.2. That is still six seconds slower than last year's pole time for Stoner.

53' 

1:47.607 for Cal Crutchlow - it's easily the fastest lap of the weekend so far and shows how much the track has dried since this morning's rain.

55'

Man down! Yonny Hernandez high-sides, is catapulted off his bike and gets a clonk from the machinery for his trouble. He is up and looks fundamentally OK, but that will have hurt.

55' 

As a frame of reference, the fastest time in Moto3 qualifying was 1:57.507. In the big class, one Ivan Silva of the Avintia team has set the fastest lap of the weekend so far - a 1:48.674 in FP1. Dani Pedrosa set the pace in FP2 and FP3 - his best lap this morning was 1:50.121.

57' 

Hmm - Jorge Lorenzo is sitting in the Yamaha garage, kicking back. He is very relaxed, but it is surprising not to see him out on the circuit.

59' 

We have had no shortage of rain on the Spanish plain this weekend, and though it is still damp and overcast it is comparatively dry at the moment - so the riders need to get their laps in while they can. Very changeable weather.

60'

OFF WE GO!! The green light is illuminated, and the whole field leaves the pits!

- 

Welcome to LIVE coverage of qualifying for the Spanish MotoGP.