Stoner, Lorenzo crash in US qualifying

Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo both crashed heavily during Saturday's qualifying session for the US MotoGP.

Lorenzo claimed pole position at Laguna Seca but may not be fit to race after being stretchered away after the session.

The Fiat Yamaha rider set a mark of one minute 21.678 seconds but both he and world championship rival Stoner suffered crashes near the end of the session with the Spaniard taken away on a stretcher.

Stoner, of Ducati Marlboro, was third in 1:21.910, behind Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi (1:21.845) and appeared to be walking unaided, albeit with a limp, after crashing on turn three.

"To be honest the bike had given us a few warnings in a lot of places around the circuit today and I'm sure there were a lot of other guys in a similar situation," Stoner said.

"The tyre is quite hard on the right-hand side and needs a couple of laps to warm up properly. Unfortunately on the lap before the crash, in the most important corner for heating that side of the tyre up I was held up by two riders having a disagreement and then I got stuck behind one of them into the next right-hander too."

"I was wary that the tyre would be cooler than I needed it to be on the next lap so I went into turn three a lot more carefully than normal, but as I closed the gas on the way into the corner the rear just came around."

"I tried to pick the bike up and go straight into the gravel but it didn't want to and that was it – it threw me straight up in the air! It hurt when I landed but I thought I'd only winded myself - now it looks like I might have torn something in my groin, which is not the best thing to happen before the race. Anyway, we have a great bike for this track so we’ll see what we can do."

His crash came just moments after Lorenzo, who had already been involved in a lowside crash earlier in the session, flipped his handlebars, landing on his shoulder and sliding 30 metres into the sand.

It was unclear whether either would be able to race on Sunday.

Dani Pedrosa was fourth with fellow Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Toni Elias making up the second row.

Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen also had a crash during the morning's practice session but managed to fight through the pain barrier and qualify on the third row of the grid.

Vermeulen was left bruised and battered after the fall but rode his bike into ninth place.

Rossi leads the championship after securing his 100th win last weekend, with Lorenzo second and Stoner third.

US MotoGP qualifying:
Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) 1:21.678
Valentino Rossi (Fiat Yamaha Team) 1:21.845
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) 1:21.910
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) 1:22.113
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) 1:22.135
Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini) 1:22.146
Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) 1:22.490
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) 1:22.540
Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) 1:22.633
Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) 1:22.662