Jorge Lorenzo grabbed pole ahead of MotoGP world championship leader Valentino Rossi at a dramatic qualifying session for the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
Rossi, who leads his Spanish rival by just 14 points in the standings, upped his game from free practice to set a new pole record of one minute 44.222 seconds to lead the way.
Yamaha rival Lorenzo emerged from a tyre change to dip below 1min 44secs and hit the front, only for Rossi to snatch the lead straight back.
But Lorenzo was not done and on his final attempt he finished his lap in 1:43.790 to pip his Italian rival to pole by just 0.081 seconds.
Spain's Marc Marquez (Honda) took third place on the grid, his time with Italian pair Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati) and Andrea Iannone (Ducati) and Spain's Dani Pedrosa (Honda) rounding out the top six.
Source: PA
