He may not yet officially have a ride for 2012, but Randy De Puniet has been lined up for a test with the Rizla Suzuki team at Valencia. The goal is to get a fresh pair of eyes on the Suzuki GSV-R.

Here is the official Rizla Suzuki Press Release:

Rizla Suzuki has given the opportunity to Randy de Puniet to ride the GSV-R at today’s Valencian post-season test.

De Puniet will join the team this afternoon for a shakedown and comparison test to assess the potential of the GSV-R from another rider’s perspective. Rizla Suzuki has worked with Álvaro Bautista in a single rider team this season, with the exception of a couple of wild-card appearances for John Hopkins, and it is accepted as a good opportunity by the team and the Suzuki factory to get another rider’s feedback during the final test of 2011

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Cal Crutchlow secured the Rookie of the Year title after securing 4th place at the Valencian MotoGP.

Crutchlow started the race from 11th on the grid, but found himself running in the top 5 after Alvaro Bautista’s crash took out Hayden, Rossi, and De Puniet.

Crutchlow then found himself locked in battle with Karel Abraham, the only other rider in contention for the Rookie of the Year title. The battle lasted until the very last lap and it ended when Abraham struck the rear of Crutchlow’s bike and crashed off into the dirt.

Crutchlow will now remain in Valencia for the testing session that begins on Tuesday, where he will get his first taste of the Yamaha 1000cc, and will team up with his new Tech 3 team-mate, Andrea Dovizioso, for the first time.

Cal Crutchlow gives his thoughts on the Valencia MotoGP below:

Cal Crutchlow 4th – 70 points:
“That was a pretty dramatic way to finish the season and I am obviously thrilled to win the Rookie of the Year title. But I’m equally happy to have finished in fourth place because that was an incredibly difficult race. I’m not sure what happened at the first corner but I came out of it in sixth place and just pushed as hard as I could. It was a really intense battle with Karel right to the end and both of us were giving it everything we had. The track was so greasy it felt like you could crash so easily and when the rain started getting heavier I just got my head down again and kept pushing. I started to catch Dani really fast and I wasn’t sure if he had a problem or whether I was pushing too hard. I slowed down because of that and Karel caught me back up, so it came down to the last lap and he obviously made a small mistake. He hit me from behind but I managed to stay on and to finish the season with my best ever result is a great way to start planning for 2012. This year has been an incredible learning experience and we have a lot to work on for next season, but I feel confident I can make the step to the next level. I can hold my held up high and now I am looking forward to getting my first experience of the Yamaha 1000cc bike on Tuesday.”

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Another Casey Stoner MotoGP victory isn’t really much of a surprise, but the manner by which this one came about was.

From the start, Stoner marched off into the distance away from the rest of the riders, but the real action was happenning behind him – a crash on the straight immediately after the start saw Alvaro Bautista take out Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, and Randy De Puniet before the riders had even got round the first turn.

After the chaos had settled, the main action came from Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso who were both fighting for second place in the race, and third in the Championship standings. Ben Spies soon caught up and joined the battle.

When the rain came in the closing laps, Spies managed to take on both Pedrosa and Dovizioso, and then started closing down Casey Stoner. A brave charge in wet conditions saw Spies take the lead from Stoner with two laps to go.

Spies maintained his lead, with Stoner following hotly behind, but the Yamaha rider seemed to have done enough to secure the win as he came round the final turn onto the home straight. However, Stoner got a better run out of the corner and with a little bit of extra Honda grunt, he managed to draw level with Spies, before crossing the line only 0.015 seconds ahead of him.

Andrea Dovizioso claimed third in the race, giving him third place in the Championship standing. Cal Crutchlow took fourth position after a long battle with Karel Abraham, securing his best MotoGP finish and the Rookie of the Year title.

MotoGP race results from Valencia:

1. Casey Stoner Honda 48m18.645s
2. Ben Spies Yamaha + 0.015s
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda + 5.936s
4. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha + 8.718s
5. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 9.321s
6. Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha + 23.818s
7. Josh Hayes Tech 3 Yamaha + 33.118s
8. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati + 37.952s
9. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati + 48.953s
10. Toni Elias LCR Honda + 52.501s
11. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati + 1m06.519s
12. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda + 1m08.760s

Retirements:

Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 0 laps
Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 0 laps
Nicky Hayden Ducati 0 laps
Valentino Rossi Ducati 0 laps

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This is the official video footage of the trinute to Marco Simoncelli that took place at Valencia.

Riders from all three categories of the World Championship were invited to depart from Pit Lane as a group, and complete a lap of the track in honour of Simoncelli.

The procession was led by former World Champion Kevin Schwantz riding at the head of the group on board Simoncelli’s San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V bike.

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Michele Pirro takes victory for Gresini in Moto2, while Andrea Iannone beats De Angelis for third place in the Championship.

Moto2 Race Results from Valencia:

1 Michele PIRRO Gresini Racing Moto2 46’22.205
2 Mika KALLIO Marc VDS Racing Team 6.15
3 Dominique AEGERTER Technomag-CIP 6.363
4 Anthony WEST MZ Racing Team 8.843
5 Kenny NOYES Avintia-STX 9.229
6 Yonny HERNANDEZ Blusens-STX 9.926
7 Mike DI MEGLIO Tech 3 Racing 10.115
8 Xavier SIMEON Tech 3 B 10.385
9 Max NEUKIRCHNER MZ Racing Team 13.018
10 Julian SIMON Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 13.685
11 Andrea IANNONE Speed Master 14.686
12 Alex DE ANGELIS JIR Moto2 15.2
13 Jules CLUZEL NGM Forward Racing 18.428
14 Pol ESPARGARO HP Tuenti Speed Up 19.177
15 Claudio CORTI Italtrans Racing Team 20.356
16 Randy KRUMMENACHER GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing 26.031
17 Thomas LUTHI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 27.16
18 Jordi TORRES Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 33.813
19 Alex BALDOLINI Desguaces La Torre G22 46.003
20 Kenan SOFUOGLU Technomag-CIP 49.635
21 Aleix ESPARGARO Pons HP 40 +1’12.187
22 Santiago HERNANDEZ SAG Team +1’14.567
23 Bradley SMITH Tech 3 Racing +1’15.394
24 Robertino PIETRI Italtrans Racing Team +1’16.767
25 Elena ROSELL Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 +1’19.893
26 Joan OLIVE Aeroport de Castello +1’22.339
27 Mashel AL NAIMI QMMF Racing Team 1 Lap
28 Oscar CLIMENT Team Climent 1 Lap
29 Nasser Hasan AL MALKI QMMF Racing Team 1 Lap
30 Scott REDDING Marc VDS Racing Team 1 Lap

Not Classified

Raffaele DE ROSA NGM Forward Racing 2 Laps
Simone CORSI Ioda Racing Project 2 Laps
Valentin DEBISE Speed Up 7 Laps
Ratthapark WILAIROT Thai Honda Singha SAG 14 Laps
Mattia PASINI Ioda Racing Project 17 Laps
Esteve RABAT Blusens-STX 21 Laps
Yuki TAKAHASHI Gresini Racing Moto2 22 Laps
Stefan BRADL Viessmann Kiefer Racing 23 Laps

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