Lorenzo smashes record to take MotoGP pole

JEREZ, Spain (Reuters) - MotoGP rookie Jorge Lorenzo clinched his second pole position in a row with a series of record-breaking laps on his Yamaha in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix on Saturday.

The 20-year-old Spaniard, who finished second in the season-opening race in Qatar, broke Italian Loris Capirossi's 2006 pole record four times to clock a blistering time of one minute 38.189 for the 4.4-km lap.

Fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa was 0.6 seconds down on his arch-rival with the second quickest time on his Honda and American Colin Edwards completed the front row on the Yamaha Tech 3.

The 2006 world champion Nicky Hayden of the United States heads up the second row of the grid, with Italy's five-times MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi and Frenchman Randy de Puniet close behind.

Reigning champion Casey Stoner, who has never finished on the podium in Jerez, had problems with the set-up on his Ducati and the Australian will start on the third row after clocking the seventh fastest time.

Britain's James Toseland, on a Tech 3 Yamaha, was eighth quickest and American John Hopkins ninth on his Kawasaki, while Capirossi leads the fourth row on his Suzuki after posting the 10th quickest time.

Lorenzo, who has stepped up to the premier category to join Rossi at the Yamaha factory team after winning back-to-back world championships in the 250cc class, dominated from the start in perfect conditions at the southern Spanish circuit.

He ducked under Capirossi's record of 1:39.064 by a tenth and then proceeded to knock chunks off the old mark to finish almost a second quicker than the Italian's previous circuit best.

Pedrosa overtook Edwards to move up to second place on the timing sheets in the closing minutes but was unable to challenge Lorenzo for pole.