Australia's world champion Casey Stoner took pole position for Sunday's Portuguese MotoGP here on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Honda rider, who won last weekend's Spanish MotoGP, recorded the 39th pole position of his career -- the 35th in MotoGp -- ahead of team-mate Dani Pedrosa of Spain, while British rider Cal Crutchlow was third fastest on a Yamaha.
Spain's 2010 world champion and current championship leader Jorge Lorenzo -- winner of this race in 2008 and 2010 -- finished fourth fastest, ending a run of four successive pole positions.
The qualifying session was suspended for several minutes with eight minutes remaining because of a fall by French rider Randy de Puniet, while American Colin Edwards also came to ground.
Lorenzo's Yamaha team-mate Ben Spies of the United States will start from fifth spot on the grid, while Italian great Valentino Rossi could post only the ninth fastest time on his Ducati.
Source: AFP Global Edition
