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Enlarge Photo Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo of Spain races during the second practice session for the... MotoGP championship leader Jorge Lorenzo put Yamaha on pole position at the British Grand Prix while main title rival Dani Pedrosa crashed and ended qualifying on a stretcher on Saturday.Lorenzo, favourite to succeed absent team mate Valentino Rossi as world champion after the Italian broke his shin 14 days ago and was ruled out for several months, lapped the new Silverstone layout in two minutes 03.308 seconds.
The pole was the 23-year-old Spaniard's first in five races this season, the 10th of his MotoGP career, and left him perfectly placed to stretch his 25-point overall lead on Sunday.
"I love it here," Lorenzo said of Silverstone, which has replaced Donington Park as host of the British round for the first time since 1986.
"Today I started to understand the track," he told reporters.
"I am more happy about the feeling on the bike than to get the podium," said Lorenzo who was not even born the last time the former World War Two airfield hosted a motorcycle grand prix.
Compatriot Pedrosa was taken to the circuit medical centre in an ambulance after he fell off his Honda at turn 12. He escaped with bruising to both knees and will still start in third place.
The machine carried on in a straight line before hitting the tyre wall head-on and rebounding. Pedrosa had difficulty getting up and was taken away on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance.
BANDAGED THUMB
"I braked and when I was going left I hit some bumps ... I released my fingers and maybe the bike goes over my knees," said the Spaniard, winner of the previous race in Italy.
"At the time it hurt but afterwards the pain went away and it's okay now."
France's Randy de Puniet split the Spaniards and will line up second on the grid on the LCR Honda despite crashing on his final lap. It will be his first front row appearance in three years.
De Puniet appeared to be heading for a surprise first career pole on the Playboy-sponsored non-works machine until Lorenzo pushed him off the top with two minutes to go, triggering the failed attempt to regain position.
The Frenchman appeared at a news conference with a bandaged thumb but shrugged off the injury.
"It's no problem for me, I am on the first row ... I think we have a good target and we'll see tomorrow. I think it's better for me to crash today because I will be more quiet for the race," he said.
"My right finger is open but it will not be a problem. I rode last year with a broken ankle."
Italy's Andrea Dovizioso, winner at Donington last year, qualified fourth for Honda with former world champions Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner completing the second row for Ducati.
In the 125cc category, Spanish rider Marc Marquez deprived local hope Bradley Smith of pole position with the quickest lap in the final seconds.
Italian Claudio Corti took pole for the Moto2 category in only his fifth grand prix.
(Editing by Stephen Wood and Tony Jimenez.
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