Marco Simoncelli on pole for Dutch TT

Marco Simoncelli has taken a second career MotoGP pole position by a narrow margin in qualifying for the Dutch TT at Assen.

The Gresini Honda rider set the early benchmark, before recording the eventual pole time of 1:37.72s with just under 15 minutes remaining.

A late charge from American Ben Spies saw the Yamaha rider finish the session just 0.009s slower than Simoncelli, while Honda’s Casey Stoner improved after a late-session damper adjustment to to secure a front-row start.

Jorge Lorenzo was fourth, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and an impressive Cal Crutchlow.

As was the case last time out in Silverstone, rookie Karel Abraham was the pick of the Ducatis. The Moto2 graduate will start from seventh position, while Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Randy de Puniet rounded out the top five.

De Puniet’s team-mate Loris Capirossi was taken to the medical centre after a fall early in the 60 minute session, while LCR Honda’s Tonio Ellias walked away unhurt after his own incident.

Earlier in the day, all three Repsol Honda riders fell in the final practice session, with Dovizioso breaking a bone in his foot.

See below for the full qualifying result

Pos	Rider	Entry	Time	Gap
1	Marco Simoncelli	Gresini Honda	1m34.718s
2	Ben Spies	Yamaha	1m34.727s	0.009s
3	Casey Stoner	Honda	1m35.008s	0.290s
4	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha	1m35.143s	0.425s
5	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda	1m35.244s	0.526s
6	Cal Crutchlow	Tech 3 Yamaha	1m35.329s	0.611s
7	Karel Abraham	Cardion Ducati	1m35.742s	1.024s
8	Colin Edwards	Tech 3 Yamaha	1m35.818s	1.100s
9	Nicky Hayden	Ducati	1m35.866s	1.148s
10	Randy de Puniet	Pramac Ducati	1m36.435s	1.717s
11	Valentino Rossi	Ducati	1m36.564s	1.846s
12	Hiroshi Aoyama	Honda	1m36.580s	1.862s
13	Hector Barbera	Aspar Ducati	1m36.590s	1.872s
14	Alvaro Bautista	Suzuki	1m36.820s	2.102s
15	Loris Capirossi	Pramac Ducati	1m37.130s	2.412s
16	Toni Elias	LCR Honda	1m37.651s	2.933s
17	Kousuke Akiyoshi	Gresini Honda	1m39.006s	4.288s