BRNO, Czech Republic (AP) — World championship leader Jorge Lorenzo claimed his fourth pole position of the season in record time Saturday for the Czech Grand Prix.
The Spanish Yamaha rider covered the 3.35-mile Brno circuit in 1 minute, 55.799 seconds, a track record. Lorenzo won in Brno in 2010.
Cal Crutchlow of Britain, who has extended his contract with Monster Yamaha Tech 3 by a year, was 0.196 seconds behind in second for his career best qualifying result.
Dani Pedrosa, who dominated all three practice sessions on his Honda, crashed in early stages of qualifying and will start Sunday’s race in third.
Lorenzo leads overall with 225 points, followed by Pedrosa with 207 and defending champion Casey Stoner at 186. Stoner is sidelined with an ankle injury after crashing last week.
