Spain's Jorge Lorenzo secured his fourth pole of the season, ahead of Briton Cal Crutchlow, for the Czech MotoGP at Brno.
The championship leader finished 0.196 seconds ahead of Crutchlow, who enjoyed his best-ever qualifying after signing a new Yamaha Tech 3 deal.
Dani Pedrosa, who is 18 points behind Lorenzo in the standings, qualified third with American Ben Spies fourth.
Casey Stoner will miss the race after breaking his ankle at Indianapolis.
The 26-year-old Australian, who retires at the end of the season, says he has "no idea" when he will return but admits his hopes of defending his title are over.
Stoner lies in third place in the standings, 39 points behind Lorenzo with seven races remaining.
Lorenzo and Crutchlow both crashed and had to use their second bikes in qualifying, while Spain's Pedrosa was 0.528 seconds behind after dominating all three free practices.
"It's nice to be back in the top three," said Crutchlow. "Hopefully we'll make it in the race. I don't think we're far away. I like the track here and it suits my riding style.
"It's a great track, so smooth. I managed to find the only bump."
Italians Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha) and Ducati star Valentino Rossi qualified fifth and sixth.
Qualifying times for Czech MotoGP:
1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 1:55.799
2. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha 1:55.995
3. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Honda 1:56.327
4. Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 1:56.331
5. Andrea Dovizioso (Ita) Yamaha 1:56.559
6. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Ducati 1:56.735
7. Stefan Bradl (Ger) Honda 1:56.827
8. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda 1:57.068
9. Karel Abraham (Cze) Ducati 1:57.773
10. Randy de Puniet (Fra) Aprilia 1:57.844
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