Jorge Lorenzo takes pole at Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez

World champion Jorge Lorenzo will start Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix on pole after a qualifying session littered with crashes in Jerez.

Lorenzo, 26, finished ahead of Dani Pedrosa and MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez as Spaniards dominated the front row.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow crashed in practice and again in qualifying, but had posted a fast enough time to start from fourth place on Sunday.

"It seems everybody is struggling," said Crutchlow.

"It is not like me to have two crashes in one day. I'm a bit battered and bruised but it won't stop me from giving it 100% in tomorrow's race."

He added: "The two crashes were very big but the second one was particularly hard because it was very fast. I made a mistake in the braking and rather than going straight the front brake level locked into my hand.

"But this was a really big crash and I'm proud that I got back to the garage and went back out to try and go faster."

Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi were among the others to suffer crashes. Italian Rossi will start on the second row in fifth place, with Spain's Alvaro Bautista in sixth, while Briton Bradley Smith finished 12th in qualifying.

Yamaha's Lorenzo won his second pole position of the season and the 27th of his career with a time of one minute 38.673 seconds, with Pedrosa 0.247 seconds back on the Honda.

"I knew it was [going to be] very close so I pushed a lot to make this fast lap in the first and the second [attempts]," Lorenzo told BBC Sport.

"Finally I got my pole and I'm so proud because it's my birthday. Let's see what happens tomorrow."

Pedrosa said: "The session went well but at the end I had a crash in turn eight, as I maybe pushed a little too hard and lost the front.

"We've ridden well all weekend and the bike is working great, so we are hoping that tomorrow we can continue in the same way."

Spanish Grand Prix qualifying:

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 1:38.673

2. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 1:38.920

3. Marc Marquez (Spain) Honda 1:38.971

4. Cal Crutchlow (Britain) Yamaha 1:39.262

5. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 1:39.300

6. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Honda 1:39.509

7. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 1:39.654

8. Stefan Bradl (Germany) Honda 1:39.847

9. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Ducati 1:39.848

10. Hector Barbera (Spain) FTR 1:39.980