Spies claims pole at Indianapolis

Rookie rider Ben Spies celebrated signing to the Yamaha factory team for 2011 by nabbing pole position at the Indianapolis MotoGP.

The Yamaha Tech 3 rider rode his best qualifying event in MotoGP, sewing up the first pole position in his young career for Sunday's race.

American Spies remained focused on capitalising on his position on the grid.

"We can't get ahead of ourselves right now, but to get my first pole in front of the American crowd and here at Indy with all the history, it's great. I put it all on the line and we got it," he said.

"We'll try to get a good start and give it everything and see what happens. But we'll enjoy this pole for right now."

Spies finished with a lap time of 1minute 40.105secs to beat current riders' championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, who was two tenths of a second behind the youngster.

Nicky Hayden will start third on the grid.

Fastest in both practice sessions, Casey Stoner will start from sixth in the MotoGP after failing to back up his efforts in qualifying.

He will start alongside Repsol Hondas' Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa.

Valentino Rossi is a surprise exclusion from the top-six riders on the grid after he crashed with five minutes to go in qualifying. He managed to scrape into seventh.