At Silverstone, Casey Stoner captured his fourth pole position of the 2011 MotoGP season, successfully holding off Marco Simoncelli and Jorge Lorenzo.
Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi faced a tough battle, finishing in a disappointing 13th place. Home fans experienced heartbreak as Cal Crutchlow crashed early in the session, resulting in a broken collarbone and concussion.
In a fiercely competitive session, the leading three riders exchanged the top position frequently. Simoncelli was under the 2010 pole time within just fifteen minutes, followed by Lorenzo who took the lead during the middle stages. The two Honda riders then engaged in a head-to-head duel toward the end.
Stoner clinched pole position with a time of 2m02.020s in the last seven minutes. Despite both Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) and Lorenzo (Yamaha) pushing hard in their final attempts, they could not unseat the Australian, whose speed, particularly in the last sector, proved unmatched.
Ultimately, Simoncelli fell short of achieving a second consecutive pole by merely 0.188 seconds. Lorenzo, who finished third, will likely be satisfied to be just 0.217s behind Stoner after previously being a second off the pace during practice.
Ben Spies and Andrea Dovizioso claimed fourth and fifth places for the second Yamaha and second works Honda, respectively.
In an impressive showing, the top Ducati was Karel Abraham’s Cardion AB machine in sixth, as the Czech rookie capitalized on a tow from Lorenzo to secure his best qualifying position in MotoGP to date.
Nicky Hayden, another factory rider, qualified one position lower, while Rossi’s struggles continued at Silverstone as he lagged 3.7s off the pace in 13th place.
Colin Edwards, overcoming discomfort from a broken collarbone sustained the previous week, managed to secure an impressive eighth place on the grid for Tech 3 Yamaha. Unfortunately, his teammate Crutchlow suffered a similar injury after crashing heavily at Farm on just his third lap, likely ruling him out for the remainder of the weekend.
Completing the top 10 were Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki) and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Ducati).
Aside from Crutchlow’s incident, the session saw Toni Elias lose control of the LCR Honda while braking for Vale. Fortunately, he was unharmed and qualified 14th.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Casey Stoner Honda 2m02.020s 2. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 2m02.208s + 0.188s 3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m02.237s + 0.217s 4. Ben Spies Yamaha 2m02.677s + 0.657s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 2m03.212s + 1.192s 6. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 2m04.151s + 2.131s 7. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m04.304s + 2.284s 8. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 2m04.508s + 2.488s 9. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 2m04.520s + 2.500s 10. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 2m04.589s + 2.569s 11. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 2m04.919s + 2.899s 12. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 2m05.164s + 3.144s 13. Valentino Rossi Ducati 2m05.781s + 3.761s 14. Toni Elias LCR Honda 2m05.862s + 3.842s 15. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 2m06.256s + 4.236s 16. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 2m07.911s + 5.891s
