Jorge Lorenzo gave Yamaha their first pole position since Jerez in April after producing a late record lap of 1m20.554s during the qualifying session for the 2012 US MotoGP.
Despite encountering traffic throughout the session, Casey Stoner still managed to qualify in second position just 0.074s behind Lorenzo and 0.352s ahead of teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Ben Spies couldn’t hold on to his front row position as he heavily crashed at Turn 13; the Yamaha driver had to settle for 4th ahead of the Tech 3 Yamaha duo Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso.
LCR Honda rider Stefan Bradl found himself sandwiched in 8th position between the two Ducatis of Nicky Hayden (8th) and Valentino Rossi (10th).
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m20.554s 2. Casey Stoner Honda 1m20.628s + 0.074s 3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m20.906s + 0.352s 4. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m21.094s + 0.540s 5. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m21.268s + 0.714s 6. Andrea Dovizioso Tech 3 Yamaha 1m21.539s + 0.985s 7. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m21.732s + 1.178s 8. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m21.734s + 1.180s 9. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m21.753s + 1.199s 10. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m22.544s + 1.990s 11. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 1m22.886s + 2.332s 12. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 1m23.075s + 2.521s 13. Colin Edwards Forward Suter-BMW 1m23.699s + 3.145s 14. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m23.704s + 3.150s 15. Yonny Hernandez Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m23.769s + 3.215s 16. Michele Pirro Gresini FTR-Honda 1m23.877s + 3.323s 17. Toni Elias Pramac Ducati 1m23.898s + 3.344s 18. Mattia Pasini Speed Master Aprilia 1m24.017s + 3.463s 19. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Aprilia 1m24.227s + 3.673s 20. Ivan Silva Avintia Inmotec-Kawasaki 1m24.560s + 4.006s 21. James Ellison Paul Bird Aprilia 1m24.715s + 4.161s 22. Steve Rapp Attack-Kawasaki 1m26.887s + 6.333s