2010 MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo has ended Casey Stoner's dominance, stealing pole position from the reigning champion in the dying moments of the qualifying session with a lap of 1:54.634.
Stoner spent the majority of the session at the top of the timesheets, before Lorenzo put in a soft tyre to knock the Australian off the top spot.
Brit Cal Crutchlow continued with the impressive pace he has shown in free practice, setting the third fastest time onboard his Tech 3 Yamaha.
Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies heads the second row in fourth position despite a crash wih five minutes of the session remaining - his second crash of the weekend. Nicky Hayden was the fastest Ducati, setting the fifth fastest time.
Factory Honda rider Dani Pedrosa struggled throughout the hour long session, the Spaniard only managing to post the seventh fastest time, ahead of Hector Barbera.
Valentino Rossi also struggled, finishing the session in 12th, the slowest prototype machine, over two seconds behind Lorenzo.
American Colin Edwards was the fastest CRT rider onboard the BMW-powered Suter machine, only 0.831secs behind Rossi.
Brit James Ellison starts his first race onboard the Paul Bird Motorsport Aprilia CRT machine from 21st on the grid, the Brit unable to improve and suffering a crash late in the session.