Qualification

Stoner improves, but the Australian is still behind Crutchlow in second.

HOW ABOUT THAT! CRUTCHLOW ON POLE! From nowhere, he's pulled out a stunner, 1:37.289 to lead with five minutes to go.

Pedrosa is knocked off his rhythm on a quick lap, but elsewhere Crutchlow is flying...

And Stoner nips in front! 1:37.438 gives him a narrow advantage over Lorenzo, who's out on track.

Stoner has three-tenths of a second of advantage after three sectors...

Crutchlow and Spies now duly out on track. It's going to be a hectic day...

The riders rush out to exploit the last few minutes. The only exceptions in the short run are Crutchlow and Spies.

RESUMPTION - the top 10 as it stands: Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Barbera, Bautista, Spies, Hayden, Bradl

The pit lane is apparently going to re-open in a couple of minutes.

De Puniet walked away from the crash - it's Edwards who appeared to be more hurt by the incident.

11 minutes, 39 seconds left on the clock. Session still red flagged.

Dear me - we've seen the replays now - that's a horrible collision. Edwards was not at full pace, De Puniet behind him was. The Frenchman lost his balance, slid his bike straight into the unsuspecting Edwards, who had no warning.

RED FLAG - session on hold as the medics deal with this.

SERIOUS INCIDENT - Randy de Puniet and Colin Edwards. That's a big one; they look as if they've come together and Edwards appears to have come off worse.

WOW! Ivan Silva shown losing his windscreen! Terrifying bumping and bouncing, but somehow - SOMEHOW - he keeps it together.

Spies is losing time in the final sector, but through the first three he's as quick as anyone. Could he yet be a factor in this race?

Oh dear, Mattia Pasini - he completely misses out Spies closing down on him, and almost manges to make the American lose his seat. Somehow he clings on, but his pole position bid is hit.

In this excitement it's easily forgotten that there is still a quarter of the session remaining. Still plenty of time for things to change.

The rain fortunately did not progress beyond a few spots and it looks like we'll be dry for the rest of the session.

Stoner comes back into the pits after that effort - will he regret letting that one get away?

Crutchlow sets his best time, but not good enough to lift him up! And for Stoner it's a similar story - he lost his way late in the lap.

The times are coming down here - Stoner is looking electric - 0.322 faster than the field at the second intermediate.

CRUTCHLOW FOURTH! Lovely lap, right up with the front three through the first two sectors, but losing a touch of time later in the lap.

We've not seen much from Cal Crutchlow today, but he was on the front row in Spain last time out and he's looking good here...

And here comes Stoner in pursuit. It looks like these two battling for pole position, not to mention for the title itself this season.

Lorenzo gets back on to his bike, looking very intense. He leads, bu tby a wafer-thin margin.

A word on James Ellison - the Brit is lapping in the 1:42s, currently ahead only of Danilo Petrucci.

The grid as it stands: Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Barbera, Bautista, Crutchlow, Spies, Rossi, Hayden

Another quiet moment in the session, with only Dovizioso and Bradl in the top 10 positions and out on track.

STONER SO CLOSE! Just nine-thousandths of a second behind Lorenzo after an excellent lap. He moves up to second, but he's just a hair's breadth short of where he really wants to be.

Spies almost comes off the bike! Several riders have had big wobbles so far, but fortunately no rider has had a major incident today.

Stoner improves his best time, but remains in third, two-tenths behind Lorenzo.

The rain hasn't taken hold, but it's an ever-present threat. If it starts to come down, nobody will be improving their times further. Almost everyone out on track.

Big lap from Pedrosa! Leapfrogs his team-mate Stoner and takes second place.

Pedrosa picks up a couple of places - up to ninth now. Meanwhile, another super lap from Lorenzo, just a whisker slower than his best, yet again ahead of the rest of the field.

Pedrosa, sitting 11th, desperately needs to improve his best, and he could be at the mercy of the elements.

Top 10 as it stands: Lorenzo, Stoner, Dovizioso, Barbera, Bautista, Crutchlow, Spies, Rossi, Bradl, Hayden

The rain is light for now, but it will be enough to lead to some worried looks upwards. For now the riders are staying out and seeking to improve their times.

BUT LORENZO IMPROVES! He was coming to the end of a quick one, and finishes in style - 1:37.465 is an impressive marker.

Spots of rain! That could shake things up.

The Australian champion about 0.4 seconds down on the Spaniard in that last lap.

More riders starting to emerge from the pits - Stoner cannot get back ahead of Lorenzo for now.

Spies leaps up three places to seventh. Stoner meanwhile tries to pull back the six-hundredths of a seconds he needs to reclaim from Lorenzo for pole.

Most riders now in the pits. Stoner back out, and Spies the only other rider in the top 10 out on track with him.

WOBBLE FOR CRUCHTLOW! Just loses his balance going into a turn, but at a sufficiently low speed that he is able to avoid an incident.

Pedrosa shoots up to 12th with his first meaningful lap, but you sense he has plenty more to come.

Crutchlow's Monster 3 team-mate Dovizioso shoots up to third - only a couple of tenths off the pace.

Edwards is almost four seconds off the pace, but given he's 18th of 21 riders at the moment, it looks to be something of a step up from his miserable weekend in Jerez.

Lorenzo back on top! Down to a 1:37.777. Each of the riders has now led the session twice.

Stoner returns to the pits, along with Hayden, but most of the front-runners are still out and racing.

Pedrosa has finally come out to post a time. Fortunately for him the conditions have held pretty steady, so he should be able to compete for pole.

Crutchlow, who's had a brilliant start to the season, improves his time but not his position. Sixth place for him, down by about six-tenths of a second.

Stoner back on top - 1:37.906 in a brisk start to the session. Can't take your eyes off qualifying so far!

A big wobble from Hayden. There are some sharp intakes for breath from his pit crew.

So a very early top 10: Lorenzo, Barbera, Stoner, Bautista, Bradl, Crutchlow, Hayden, Rossi, Abraham, Spies

Lorenzo shaves six-tenths of a second off that time - 1:38.337. Barbera slips into second.

First serious time of the session - 1:38.9 from Stoner - it leads for now but it's still 1.6 seconds shy of Pedrosa's mark this morning.

Any fears about the rain? Perhaps that's why everyone is getting a move on... Only Dani Pedrosa yet to appear.

Plenty of riders to look out for and several riders in good form - the latest standings

An hour of riding ahead - and plenty of riders quickly out on to the track.

Away we go!

Top man in practice is Dani Pedrosa, and the Repsol Hondas are looking strong in Portugal.

WEATHER: There's a bit of cloud and the lightest of clouds in the sky. Air temperature of 17C - a bit warmer on track, of course, as the other formats have been using the circuit in the morning.

And if you can't, you can watch online LIVE by getting yourself the Eurosport Player!

Qualifying just minutes away - but a reminder that you can watch this session LIVE on British Eurosport 2 if you can access the channel.

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to live qualifying from the Portugal GP at Estoril.