ALCANIZ (Spain), Sept 29: MotoGP leader Jorge Lorenzo took pole for Sunday’s Aragon Grand Prix by edging out rival and Spanish compatriot Dani Pedrosa in a close-fought battle.

Yamaha’s Lorenzo set a fastest lap of one minute 49.404 seconds on home soil as Pedrosa, 38 points behind him in the overall standings in second spot, could only qualify second on his Honda.

Britain’s Cal Crutchlow was third quickest with American Ben Spies, also on a Yamaha, managing fourth on the grid having been quickest in Friday’s second practice. Valentino Rossi’s woeful season for Ducati continued as he qualified eighth.

Grid for Aragon MotoGP after qualifying:1 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1min 49.404 sec, 2 Dani Pedrosa (Honda) at 0.088s, 3 Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 0.172, 4 Ben Spies (Yamaha) 0.344, 5 Stefan Bradl (Honda) 0.630, 6 Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) 0.837, 7 Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1.006, 8 Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 1.545, 9 Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1.609, 10 Hector Barbera (Ducati) 1.668, 11. Aleix Espargaro (ART) 1.678.—AFP