Lorenzo on pole at Le Mans

Lorenzo was 0.441 faster than fellow-Spaniard and championship leader Marc Marquez, on the Honda, with the quickest lap yet on the short Bugatti circuit.

Italian Andrea Iannone qualified third for Ducati despite a fall towards the end of the session.

Rossi, winner of the previous race in Spain, will start seventh and was outqualified by both the non-works Tech3 Yamahas.

Marquez leads Lorenzo by 17 points overall with Rossi a further seven points behind after four races.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Toby Davis)