Marco Simoncelli edged out Casey Stoner to take pole position for the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona.
Under-fire Italian narrowly beats Stoner to top spot at Barcelona
Marco Simoncelli edged out Casey Stoner to take his first MotoGP pole position at the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona.
The Honda Gresini rider set a fastest lap of 1 minute 42.413 seconds to finish just 16 thousandths ahead of Stoner's Repsol Honda.
Reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo completed the front row after being over three tenths slower than Simoncelli but just ahead of Yamaha team-mate Ben Spies.
Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top five while British rider Cal Crutchlow equalled his career-best sixth position from the previous round at Le Mans.
Valentino Rossi's disappointing season continued as he could only manage seventh, just five thousandths of a second ahead of Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden.
Simoncelli's pole is unlikely to be popular with the home crowd after he was involved in the collision that ruled Catalan favourite Dani Pedrosa out of the race.
Pedrosa broke his collarbone after tangling with the Italian in France and has not recovered in time to participate in his home race.
Simoncelli received threats ahead of this weekend's event and has been escorted by two police officers throughout the event.
