Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez has decimated Casey Stoner's circuit best lap on his way to pole position for tomorrow's Silverstone MotoGP race, going 1.3s faster than the former world champion managed in 2011.
Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo thought he had top spot in the bag with his lap of 2'00.819 on his second run but Marquez had other ideas, banging in a 2'00.691 to secure another pole.
Britain's Cal Crutchlow recovered from two crashes in this morning's third free practice session to take third on the grid and a front-row start with his best lap of 2'01.425, some three-quarters of a second behind Marquez.
Stefan Bradl bounced into fourth place with his final lap of the session and demoted Dani Pedrosa, who abandoned his last flying circuit, to fifth place and almost a second slower than his HRC team-mate.
Valentino Rossi rounds out the second row with his 2'02.109 while Andrea Dovizioso was the fastest of the Ducatis in seventh. Alvaro Bautista was eighth and Nicky Hayden denied Bradley Smith a third-row start by just a tenth of the second.
Colin Edwards was, for the third time in a row, the fastest CRT man as Aleix Espargaro fractured his little finger in a free practice four crash and didn't take part in qualifying.
