Monster Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow will start from the front row of a MotoGP race tomorrow for the first time in his career but is already playing down any expectations he has of finishing on the podium, saying Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa will be very hard to beat.

The Coventry man scythed his way to third place in today's qualifying session and was only beaten to second place by a flying lap from reigning world champion Casey Stoner. Crutchlow said this results has been a long time coming and he will just do the best job he can in the desert.

"It's going to be very difficult to beat Ben and Dani for a podium, don't get me wrong, and there's also a couple of other guys who could pop up. I think we have the potential to finish in the top five but whether that is third, fourth, fifth, I don't know, I'm just going to do the best job I can." said Crutchlow, speaking to bikesportnews.com this evening.

"I think we can go into the race now with a lot more confidence. It is a great feeling to be on the front row with Casey and Jorge because everybody is aware of how fast they are. It has felt like a long time coming to get a result like this but this is a fantastic reward for all the effort my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 crew put in over the winter.

"They worked with me a lot to help me learn how to ride in MotoGP and tonight is a great pay-off. I'm happy with my performance but fair play to Jorge because he did a phenomenal job and that's an awesome lap time. But I always knew what I could do once we started putting the soft tyres in and I thought I'd have a crack at the front row.

"The big positive aside from my first front row in MotoGP is my race pace is going to be good enough to finish in the top six and that remains my goal. There's no doubt we are getting the absolute maximum out of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 package and all I will do tomorrow night is try my best. I'd say per lap I am three or four-tenths off the pace Casey and Jorge are capable of, but that's a lot better than what it was last year."