MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow ends long wait for a British pole by qualifying fastest at Assen

Cal Crutchlow: Finally halts barren run without a Briton on pole

The Tech 3 Yamaha rider topped the timesheets with a lap of one minute 34.398 seconds to end a long barren run, stretching back to when Jeremy McWilliams took pole at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix.

Crutchlow finished three-tenths of a second ahead of Marc Marquez, who was hindered by a broken finger, while reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo was forced to miss the session with a broken collarbone.

Stefan Bradl completed the top three on his LCR Honda and Valentino Rossi was again fourth for the factory Yamaha squad, while championship leader Dani Pedrosa was fifth.

A delighted Crutchlow said: "It feels fantastic to have finally got my first pole position in MotoGP.

"It might have been a different story if Jorge (Lorenzo) wasn't injured, but you can only beat the guys on track and I did that today.

"It would have been good to have a dogfight for pole position with Jorge because it was obvious before his crash that he was going to be the man to beat.

"Hopefully at some stage this year I'll be having a battle with him for the win. It is a great achievement for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team because it is not often a non-factory rider gets a pole position in MotoGP.

"The competition is incredibly tough but today we showed again that we can compete with the very best."

The Spaniard led halfway through the session, but decided not to go out again after suffering a crash as he attempted a quicker time.

Crutchlow's team-mate Bradley Smith marked his return with a career-best sixth after recovering from surgery on hand and wrist injuries.

Aleix Espargaro was the top CRT machine in seventh aboard his Aspar Aprilia, ahead of Alvaro Bautista, team-mate Randy de Puniet and Ducati's Nicky Hayden.

Hayden's team-mate Andrea Dovizioso could only manage 15th as Ducati continued to struggle in Holland.

Despite missing the session, Lorenzo will start 12th on the grid due to his fast time in Thursday morning practice.

The Spaniard had been set to miss the rest of the weekend, but he is to undergo surgery on his collarbone and could yet travel back for the race.