Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo obliterated Casey Stoner's long-standing outright lap record on his way to pole position at Phillip Island despite having a the remains of a seagull stuck in his radiator for half of the session.
The Spaniard banged in the fastest-ever lap around the Australian circuit with a 1'27.899 with his last effort which is three-quarters of a second under Stoner's 2008 best of 1'28.665, set on a Ducati and also massively faster than the Australian's pole time from last year of 1'29.623 and said: "This is a lap you can only do on a Playstation!"
Championship leader Marc Marquez joins him on the front row with a 1'28.120 and Valentino Rossi denied Alvaro Bautista with his last lap, setting a 1'28.647. The Spaniard had caravanned his way to third behind Marquez but The Doctor just had his measure.
Dani Pedrosa couldn't bring his free practice form into qualifying and only mustered a 1'28.748, eight-tenths slower than Lorenzo, but it was enough to demote Cal Crutchlow to sixth place, one ahead of team-mate Bradley Smith.
The Ducatis of Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone round out the top ten with Open class men Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet rounding first four rows despite them both having early crashes in qualifying two.
Britain's Michael Laverty finished in 18th place with a 1'30.979 at a track he hadn't seen before Friday.