Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo has broken the Laguna Seca track record on his way to pole position for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
Lorenzo left his pole run until his last lap to take his fourth consecutive pole at the track ahead of Repsol Honda Team’s Casey Stoner, who had posted a new track record just a few laps before.
Completing the front row in third is Stoner’s team-mate Dani Pedrosa, who had shone in yesterday’s practice sessions, but was unable to match the two at the front.
Row two is headed by Lorenzo’s team-mate Ben Spies, who suffered a heavy crash 12 minutes before the end. Despite walking away gingerly, he re-joined for the final few minutes of the session.
Next to Spies will be Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, who showed no ill signs of his crash yesterday. Crutchlow’s team-mate Andrea Dovizioso rounds out the second row in sixth.
Rounding out the top 10 will be San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista, Ducati Team’s home favourite Nicky Hayden, LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl and Ducati’s Valentino Rossi.
The highest CRT finisher was Power Electronics Aspar’s Randy de Puniet, who ended the day in 11th.
Qualifying, Laguna Seca
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 267.7 | 1’20.554 | |
| 2 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 267.1 | 1’20.628 | 0.074 / 0.074 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 267.4 | 1’20.906 | 0.352 / 0.278 |
| 4 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 263.7 | 1’21.094 | 0.540 / 0.188 |
| 5 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 265.1 | 1’21.268 | 0.714 / 0.174 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 263.4 | 1’21.539 | 0.985 / 0.271 |
| 7 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 265.8 | 1’21.732 | 1.178 / 0.193 |
| 8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 266.1 | 1’21.734 | 1.180 / 0.002 |
| 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 260.6 | 1’21.753 | 1.199 / 0.019 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 268.1 | 1’22.544 | 1.990 / 0.791 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 253.9 | 1’22.886 | 2.332 / 0.342 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 252.9 | 1’23.075 | 2.521 / 0.189 |
| 13 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 255.4 | 1’23.699 | 3.145 / 0.624 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 260.1 | 1’23.704 | 3.150 / 0.005 |
| 15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 253.6 | 1’23.769 | 3.215 / 0.065 |
| 16 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 255.9 | 1’23.877 | 3.323 / 0.108 |
| 17 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 258.3 | 1’23.898 | 3.344 / 0.021 |
| 18 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 246.5 | 1’24.017 | 3.463 / 0.119 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 245.7 | 1’24.227 | 3.673 / 0.210 |
| 20 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 246.8 | 1’24.560 | 4.006 / 0.333 |
| 21 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 251.2 | 1’24.715 | 4.161 / 0.155 |
| 15 | Steve RAPP | USA | Attack Performance | APR | 245.2 | 1’26.887 | 6.333 / 2.172 |
