Jorge Lorenzo set a new lap record at Misano to claim pole position for the San Marino Grand Prix.
The Movistar Yamaha rider took his third pole of the season with a time of one minute 32.146 seconds ahead of Marc Marquez, with MotoGP title leader Valentino Rossi completing the front row for Sunday's race.
Lorenzo, 12 points behind team mate Rossi in the World Championship standings, used two stops to allow him to put in three runs on fresh slicks.
He set his fastest time on his second lap, beating Marquez's 2013 pole record (1min 32.915secs) by almost eight-tenths of a second around the 4.2km track on the Adriatic coast.
The Spaniard looked on for a 1:31 lap on his third run before he was hampered by Rossi.
Marquez had looked the main threat to Lorenzo over the weekend but finished 0.106s adrift and will start from the middle of the front row.
Rossi was 0.212s behind Lorenzo in claiming only his third front row start of the season as he looks to take back-to-back wins at his home grand prix.
Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa will start from the front of the second row while British rider Bradley Smith is sixth as he looks to make it 19 points-scoring finishes in a row.
Ireland's Eugene Laverty will start from 21st on the grid.
