(CNN) -- World MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo will start Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix from first on the grid after qualifying was canceled due to bad weather in Estoril.
The Spaniard was handed his seventh pole position this season for the penultimate race of 2010 following heavy rain and high winds, with times instead taken from Saturday morning's practice session and the two on Friday.
Lorenzo, who clinched his first world title with victory in Malaysia on October 10, has won the race for the past two years.
He clocked a best practice time of one minute 48.522 seconds on his Fiat Yamaha, with Ducati's Nicky Hayden and deposed world champion Valentino Rossi joining him on the front row.
Casey Stoner, who has won two of the last three races, qualified fourth for Ducati ahead of young American Ben Spies on a Yamaha.
Marco Melandri then heads a trio of Honda riders, with fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso seventh ahead of Frenchman Randy De Puniet.
American veteran Colin Edwards will start ninth on a Yamaha ahead of Italian Marco Simoncelli on another Honda.
Dani Pedrosa, who is seeking to preserve his second placing overall, was 12th on his return from the collarbone and ankle injuries he suffered in Japan three races ago.
The Spaniard has a 23-point advantage over Australia's 2007 world champion Stoner, while Rossi is 31 points adrift.
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