Points leader Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) took pole for tomorrow’s MotoGP race at Laguna Seca. The Hondas of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were second and third quickest, respectively. Notably, Valentino Rossi qualified his Ducati in 10th, just 3/10ths of a second in front of the fastest CRT piloted by Randy De Puniet.
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
| 1 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | SPA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 267.7 | 1’20.554 | |
| 2 | 1 | Casey STONER | AUS | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 267.1 | 1’20.628 | 0.074 / 0.074 |
| 3 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | SPA | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | 267.4 | 1’20.906 | 0.352 / 0.278 |
| 4 | 11 | Ben SPIES | USA | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | 263.7 | 1’21.094 | 0.540 / 0.188 |
| 5 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | GBR | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 265.1 | 1’21.268 | 0.714 / 0.174 |
| 6 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | ITA | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | Yamaha | 263.4 | 1’21.539 | 0.985 / 0.271 |
| 7 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | SPA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 265.8 | 1’21.732 | 1.178 / 0.193 |
| 8 | 69 | Nicky HAYDEN | USA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 266.1 | 1’21.734 | 1.180 / 0.002 |
| 9 | 6 | Stefan BRADL | GER | LCR Honda MotoGP | Honda | 260.6 | 1’21.753 | 1.199 / 0.019 |
| 10 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | ITA | Ducati Team | Ducati | 268.1 | 1’22.544 | 1.990 / 0.791 |
| 11 | 14 | Randy DE PUNIET | FRA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 253.9 | 1’22.886 | 2.332 / 0.342 |
| 12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Power Electronics Aspar | ART | 252.9 | 1’23.075 | 2.521 / 0.189 |
| 13 | 5 | Colin EDWARDS | USA | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | Suter | 255.4 | 1’23.699 | 3.145 / 0.624 |
| 14 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 260.1 | 1’23.704 | 3.150 / 0.005 |
| 15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 253.6 | 1’23.769 | 3.215 / 0.065 |
| 16 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | San Carlo Honda Gresini | FTR | 255.9 | 1’23.877 | 3.323 / 0.108 |
| 17 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Pramac Racing Team | Ducati | 258.3 | 1’23.898 | 3.344 / 0.021 |
| 18 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Speed Master | ART | 246.5 | 1’24.017 | 3.463 / 0.119 |
| 19 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 245.7 | 1’24.227 | 3.673 / 0.210 |
| 20 | 22 | Ivan SILVA | SPA | Avintia Blusens | BQR | 246.8 | 1’24.560 | 4.006 / 0.333 |
| 21 | 77 | James ELLISON | GBR | Paul Bird Motorsport | ART | 251.2 | 1’24.715 | 4.161 / 0.155 |
| 15 | Steve RAPP | USA | Attack Performance | APR | 245.2 | 1’26.887 | 6.333 / 2.172 |
Nice win from Stoner. I think Rossi might retire after this year. Well done to Hayden, and Dovi & Crutchlow.
Ducati is looking terrible. I’m guessing Rossi is leaving for Yamaha now, let’s see how the race goes… also wow, Spies got his bell rung! And his heel – looks like the race Doc cleared him to ride today. Go Ben!