Jorge Lorenzo bags Spanish GP pole position

Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo smashed the track record at Jerez to claim pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lorenzo topped the times early on and while he was briefly challenged by World Champion Marc Márquez, Lorenzo posted a lap of 1:37.910 to end comfortably clear of his rivals.

Márquez, riding with an injured finger after a training accident last week, ended 0.390s down on his compatriot, with Andrea Iannone in third for Ducati.

Tech 3 rider Pol Espargaró was fourth quickest, ahead of Championship leader Valentino Rossi and Suzuki's Aleix Espargaró.

Seventh position went to Cal Cructhlow, while Yonny Hernández and Bradley Smith completed the top 10.

Danilo Petrucci advanced from Q1 and ultimately qualified in 11th position while Scott Redding rounded out the Q2 runners. 

Héctor Barberá narrowly missed out on a slot in Q2 and will start the race from 13th position, while Maverick Viñales was on for a good time until he skated wide at the final corner and ended up in 14th place.

Álvaro Bautista claimed a credible 15th place for Aprilia, ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama, who is once again substituting for the injured Dani Pedrosa at Honda.

Eugene Lavery was 17th, ahead of Nicky Hayden, Stefan Bradl, Karel Abraham and Loris Baz.

Jack Miller, Mike di Meglio, Alex de Angelis and Marco Melandri rounded out the runners.