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Cal Crutchlow claimed the second pole position of his MotoGP career with a new lap record in qualifying at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The Yamaha Tech 3 rider, also fastest in free practice, set a new two-wheel mark of one minute 55.527 seconds.
Spaniard Alvaro Bautista snatched a surprise second place with championship leader Marc Marquez settling for third after failing to complete a quick lap.
His Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa was fourth, with Jorge Lorenzo fifth.
Crutchlow became the first British MotoGP rider in 11 years to achieve a pole position in Assen in June, but world champion Lorenzo was absent injured on that occasion.
This time Crutchlow, who will ride for Ducati next season, could legitimately claim to have out-paced all his rivals in factory teams.
"That is probably why I am so happy," the 27-year-old told BBC Sport. "But it is going to be a long, tough race tomorrow.
"In all honesty the last couple of races haven't gone to plan and this weekend has been a disaster so far. But everyone seems to be struggling a bit and we seem to be getting there slowly.
"I am really pleased for the Monster Tech team. They have been working so hard for me and it is nice to be able to reward them as much as me.
"Hopefully we can aim for the podium tomorrow and go to Silverstone [for the British MotoGP next Sunday] strong."
Crutchlow's team-mate and fellow Briton Bradley Smith could also be satisfied after taking sixth position on the grid.
But Spaniard Marquez, who has won the last three races to establish a 21-point lead in the rider standings, struggled to keep his tyres warm enough in the final session to post a fast lap.
"I felt so good on the bike so I was a bit disappointed with that," said the 20-year-old, who has finished on the podium in every race of his debut MotoGP season so far.
"I was ready to fight for the pole position with the second tyres but there was too much traffic and we had to stop too much."
Qualifying Results:
1. Cal Crutchlow (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1:55.527
2. Alvaro Bautista (Spa) Honda Gresini - 1:55.754
3. Marc Marquez (Spa) Repsol Honda - 1:55.863
4. Dani Pedrosa (Spa) Repsol Honda - 1:55.868
5. Jorge Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha Factory Racing - 1:55.949
6. Bradley Smith (GB) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 1:56.014
7. Valentino Rossi (Ita) Yamaha Factory Racing - 1:56.186
8. Stefan Bradl (Ger) LCR Honda MotoGP - 1:56.477
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