Cal Crutchlow says he "knew I'd made the right decision" to stop racing in MotoGP in 2021 and become Yamaha's test rider upon seeing his daughter's reaction to the news.

Yamaha confirmed on Friday morning Crutchlow would replace Jorge Lorenzo as its official test rider in 2021.

Crutchlow had been linked to a race seat at Aprilia, but admitted he didn't want to join the marque in waiting to see what would happen regarding Andrea Iannone's doping ban - which was upheld and increased to four years on Tuesday.

The outgoing LCR rider admitted his current injury woes played a factor in his decision, and was already sure of his choice to become a Yamaha test rider - with that only further validated by his young daughter's reaction to the news on Friday.

"Obviously I discussed it with my family, I discussed with [my wife] Lucy when this thing came up, and it was what I wanted to do and she knew it was what I wanted to do," Crutchlow told the media on Friday.

"I couldn't keep going in the way that I was going. Today, we told [my daughter] Willow that daddy wouldn't be racing next year.

"It was sad because it was sad that I was not racing, but she - and I'm not saying this to build anything up - but she was in the back of the car and we said I was not going to race next year.

"She said, 'does that mean you'll be home more?', I said 'yeah' and she was crying happy tears.

"So, that's the difference and I know I've made the right decision for me, my family and my future.

"It's difficult to walk away from a sport, but I'm still able to do something. Spending time with Lucy and Willow is something that this year especially we've not been able to do.

"To see Willow react like that, I knew I'd made the right decision. I already knew anyway, but it was nice to have confirmation from my daughter as well."

Crutchlow also spoke exclusively to Autosport about his decision to return to Yamaha as its test rider.

He feels the marque needs someone committed to being a test rider and not looking ahead to the following year at potentially making a racing comeback.

PLUS: Why Yamaha's MotoGP rivals should fear Crutchlow's return

When asked if that was him ruling out a 2022 return, he said: "Well, there's still a lot of opportunities to race in MotoGP even if you are a test rider.

"Now, as I've said they wanted someone who wants to be a test rider first and foremost and that's what I've committed to.

"I've committed to doing a good job with that and we'll see what happens. But to take a year out racing in MotoGP, and then come back it's very difficult. I can tell you that.

"I know Marc [Marquez] did that, but he's at the right age to do that, he doesn't have to worry about his speed, he didn't intentionally take a year out.

"So, I believe it's not a project where I'm going to take a year out and comeback racing after.

"That's not my intention at all. My intention is to be a test rider for Yamaha and do my job there as best as I can."

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Fabio Quartararo admits Friday at the MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix was "one of the worst days of the season", after finishing 16th overall on his Petronas SRT Yamaha.

Quartararo's championship hopes are all but gone following a crash last weekend in the European GP, in which he remounted to take a lowly 14th place, while title rival Joan Mir claimed his maiden MotoGP victory to extend his points advantage 37.

The Frenchman struggled throughout the European GP weekend and once again scrabbled for form on his M1, having made "big changes" to his bike, but was never able to improve his feeling - something he claimed has never happened to him before.

"Actually, it was one of the worst days of the season for me," Quartararo told motogp.com.

"Today we have tried many things on the bike and normally when you try many things, you feel a different feeling on the bike - better, worse.

"But we made big changes and the feeling was exactly the same, and this has never happened.

"So, we will go in an extreme way tomorrow, because it's difficult because even when we struggle [before this weekend] with the pace, we put in the new tyre and we are fast.

"And today, we were slow even with new tyres. So, this is something we need to change and tomorrow we will go in an extreme way we never did in both years in MotoGP."

Quartararo says his team tried different engine maps, suspension settings on the front and rear and ride height adjustments, but admits he is "worried" as none of it yielded any improvement.

"Yeah, a little bit, because normally we know why we have a problem - not this problem because it's the first time we have it - and I would say that normally when we change the bike we feel it," he said when asked if he was worried.

"Either positive or negative, I go in and say 'the bike is worse', or better or something happens.

"And today, with all the changes that we made, it was exactly the same. So, yeah, I'm a bit worried because I will go out with a bike that I never really ride, and it will be difficult."

Quartararo admits his lack of understanding of a problem on the bike is one of the main flaws with the 2020 M1.

"I will say it's the main problem, one of the main problems," he replied when asked by Autosport if it's too easy to get lost on the 2020 M1.

"That last year, on normal days, you can adapt to the bike, but this year the margin is so small to be fighting for victories or fighting for the points and this is something that is tough to understand.

"At other races it's also difficult because everybody improves, but actually right now it doesn't improve, and normally when you make big changes like we did today, you feel it and you come into the box and say it's worse [or] I have this feeling.

"But today was the same and this is probably the main problem; first you get lost really easily but it's difficult to understand.

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Joan Mir says his crash in MotoGP Valencia Grand Prix FP2 was because conditions were "on the limit" for the hard front tyre, but he was forced into trying it.

The championship leader ended Friday's running at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit 12th overall, having finished FP2 in 11th on his Suzuki.

His afternoon was interrupted by a fast crash at Turn 4 in the latter stages of FP2, which forced him into running his second bike for his time attack to try and bag a provisional Q2 place.

However, he "didn't have the same feeling" on his second GSX-RR, which stopped him from improving his lap time on soft rubber.

Mir also admits the forecasted cooler conditions for Saturday meant he had to test the hard front tyre on Friday, ultimately leading to his crash.

"Overall, it was a good day, talking about many feelings [on the bike]," he said.

"I had the crash in FP2 while trying the hard front, for this temperature it was a bit on the limit and I crashed.

"The problem was that I didn't have the same feeling with the second bike. It was not completely ready.

"But anyway, I think I have margin to improve. We know what is the way, so let's see tomorrow."

He added: "For sure, I know we are not the fastest. It's only Friday so I think I have potential to improve tomorrow because today we wanted to try the hard front and probably... in the normal conditions, I didn't want to try in this temperature but it looks like it will be cooler tomorrow so we had to try.

"This was a bit of a problem to improve a bit more the lap time, we had to try.

"Tomorrow we have time in FP4 and also FP3 to improve our pace that is not bad, but we have margin."

Team-mate Alex Rins, who trails Mir by 37 points in the standings, was ninth overall on Friday and currently the only one of the top three in the championship holding a provisional Q2 place.

Despite the tension of the championship potentially being decided this weekend, Rins admits there are "no bad vibes" within the Suzuki box.

"It is a very pleasant environment, of course, there are no bad vibes and there could be when there are two riders playing for the world championship," he said.

"There could be tension, however there is none, everything has been managed quite well.

"It's all, in the end, the good vibes in the team, it comes from the atmosphere that has been created year after year with the mechanics who have been there from the beginning."

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MotoGP is set for its penultimate round of the reshaped 2020 season at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo with the Valencia Grand Prix. Here's how to watch qualifying.

Jack Miller topped Friday practice in Valencia, just as he did last weekend, as the circuit hosts the second leg of its MotoGP double-header before the season finale next weekend at Portimao.

Joan Mir's weekend got off to an underwhelming start as he crashed during the closing stages of FP2 and was duly pushed outside of the provisional top 10 on the overall timesheet - leaving him out of the current automatic Q2 spots.

Mir can seal the 2020 MotoGP world title this weekend if he finishes on the podium, with the Suzuki rider looking a strong favourite having claimed his maiden MotoGP victory last weekend in Valencia.

Out of the top three title contenders, only Mir's Suzuki team-mate Alex Rins currently holds a top 10 spot having ended FP2 in eighth place, with Petronas SRT Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo down in 16th place in the afternoon session.

The headlines continue to be dominated by events off the track, however, with Yamaha confirming Cal Crutchlow will become its MotoGP test rider for next year having lost his place on the full-time grid following his LCR Honda exit.

PLUS: Why Yamaha's MotoGP rivals should fear Crutchlow's return

After a COVID-19 test scare, Valentino Rossi has been cleared to race in Valencia, but Marc Marquez will remain out of action for the rest of 2020 as he focuses his rehabilitation on being fully fit for next season.

Iker Lecuona will return to action for Tech3 KTM from tomorrow's FP3 session having missed both the entire European GP and Friday's action at the Valencia GP due to a positive case for his brother which forced him into self-isolation for the past 10 days.

What time does qualifying start for the Valencia MotoGP?

Qualifying for the Valencia MotoGP is set to start at 2:50pm local time (1:50pm GMT), using the regular Q1 and Q2 sessions format. Qualifying takes place directly after the 30-minute FP4 session which is set to start at 2:10pm local time (1:10pm GMT).

The fastest 10 MotoGP riders on the FP1-2-3 combined timesheet automatically head into Q2, with the rest of the riders entering Q1 of qualifying. The two riders who are fastest in the 15-minute Q1 session will progress into Q2 to compete with the top 10 from practice. Q2, which also lasts 15 minutes, decides who gets pole position and the qualifying order for the front four rows of the grid.

Date: Saturday 14 November 2020
Start time: 2:50pm local time - 1:50pm GMT

How can I watch qualifying?

In the United Kingdom every MotoGP practice, qualifying and race is broadcast live on BT Sport. MotoGP also offers its own live online video streaming service.

What's the weather forecast for qualifying at Valencia?

Dry but cloudy conditions are forecast for qualifying at Valencia, with a very low chance of rain. A high of 18 degrees Celsius for qualifying will mean temperatures will be four degrees cooler than qualifying for last weekend's European GP at Valencia, which was held in wet conditions.

Valencia MotoGP FP2 results

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Pramac Ducati's Jack Miller led a tight second MotoGP practice for the Valencia Grand Prix, as championship leader Joan Mir was 11th after a late crash.

Just 0.749 seconds covered the top 19 from Miller down to Alex Marquez in FP2, with the likes of Mir and joint-nearest title rival Fabio Quartararo missing out on a provisional Q2 place after Friday's running.

Franco Morbidelli, just as he did in FP1, set the early pace at the start of the second session with a 1m32.065s.

The Petronas SRT rider then guided his Yamaha to a 1m31.383s, before Johann Zarco on the 2019 Avintia Ducati edged ahead with a 1m31.162s.

Suzuki rider Mir would depose Zarco a few seconds later with a 1m31.080s, before the Frenchman re-established himself at the top of the pile with a 1m31.053s.

This stood as the benchmark for almost 20 minutes, when FP1 pacesetter Takaaki Nakagami set the best lap of the day so far with a 1m30.713s on his year-old LCR Honda.

Championship leader Mir's Friday hit a blip with around 11 minutes to go when he crashed at the Turn 4 right-hander.

A late flurry of time attack laps put Nakagami's lap under threat, but only Miller could surpass it when he fired in a 1m30.662s right at the end of FP2 to end the day 0.091s clear of the Japanese rider.

Miller's Pramac team-mate Francesco Bagnaia completed the top three ahead of KTM's Pol Espargaro, while Zarco was shuffled back to fifth at the chequered flag.

He headed the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, with Cal Crutchlow - who was confirmed as a Yamaha test rider for 2021 earlier on Friday - bagging a provisional Q2 place late on with a 1m30.930s.

Of the top three title contenders, only Suzuki's Alex Rins - who is joint-second in the standings with Quartararo - holds a provisional Q2 spot after finishing FP2 eighth ahead of Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales.

The final rider currently occupying a Q2 place is Morbidelli, despite ending FP2 13th, with Stefan Bradl (Honda) and Mir ahead of him on the individual session timesheet.

Quartararo was just 0.704s off the pace, but was only 16th in FP2 behind KTM's Brad Binder and Danilo Petrucci on the Ducati, with Tech3's Miguel Oliveira and Valentino Rossi on the sister factory Yamaha behind him.

Marquez matched Rossi's lap with a 1m31.371s, but suffered two crashes during the session. Tito Rabat (Avintia) and Aprilia's Lorenzo Savadori completed the field.

Valencia GP - FP2 results

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Red Bull's Max Verstappen led Ferrari's Charles Leclerc as Mercedes struggled in second practice at the Turkish Grand Prix.

His team-mate Valtteri Bottas was third, 0.575secs behind Verstappen.

Mercedes were struggling for grip even more than everyone else on a slippery Istanbul Park track surface.

The circuit, which last hosted a Grand Prix in 2011, was resurfaced just two weeks ago, and bitumen leaking out of the track surface gave the circuit a sheen as cars ran on it on Friday.

This meant lap times were hugely slower than predicted - and even 13 seconds off those set in qualifying in 2011, since when Formula 1 cars have become several seconds a lap faster.

All the drivers were complaining of a lack of grip as a result, and there were a number of spins.

Despite Mercedes' struggles in terms of headline lap times, there was strong evidence that they will remain the team to beat as they were comfortably quickest on the race-simulation runs late in the session.

Leclerc's pace was encouraging for Ferrari, second fastest and just 0.4secs off Verstappen, while Alexander Albon had a positive day in the second Red Bull.

Although the British-Thai ended the day a second off Verstappen, he set a series of fastest laps and looked more comfortable than he has of late.

It could be a timely development for Albon, whose seat is under threat for next season with Red Bull deciding whether to stick with him or take on a more experienced proven driver such as Sergio Perez or Nico Hulkenberg.

Behind Albon, the Alpha Tauris of Daniil Kvyat were sixth and seventh, ahead of the second Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, Lance Stroll's Racing Point, and McLaren's Lando Norris, who is celebrating his 21st birthday on Friday.

Williams driver George Russell was 17th, and one of those to spin. He is to receive a grid penalty for using more than the permitted number of engine parts this season, after exceeding his allocation of internal combustion engines, turbos and MGU-Hs, the hybrid device that recovers energy from the turbo.

Yamaha has confirmed outgoing LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow will return to its fold in 2021 as its official MotoGP test rider.

Crutchlow made his MotoGP debut with Yamaha in 2011 with the Tech3 squad, and scored six podiums across the 2012 and 2013 campaigns on the M1 before departing for Ducati for the 2014 season.

It was announced earlier in the year he would be losing his place at LCR to Alex Marquez, who in turn has been moved out of the factory Honda squad to make way for Pol Espargaro.

The Briton confirmed on Thursday ahead of the Valencia Grand Prix he was nearing a deal with Yamaha to become its test rider.

The Japanese marque has now confirmed this, and has left the door open for wildcards if it makes sense to do so.

"I'm thrilled to go back to the manufacturer I won a world title for, I rode in [World] Supersport for, in [World] Superbike for and they brought me to MotoGP with Yamaha, Lin [Jarvis] and Herve [Poncharal] obviously," Crutchlow told Autosport.

"Obviously my first year was very tough, but I had two great years after that and a great experience with that factory.

"It was something that I was very interested to do, a project that I believed works very, very well for me that in the end I have to turn myself from being a race rider to a test rider.

"But I don't have to do it and be slow. They need a test rider that is fast, that is willing to be a test rider, among other things, but be a test rider and be happy with being a test rider and not having a test rider who wants to commit to them for a year and then wants to race, which I fully agree with and fully understand."

Crutchlow had been linked to a race seat with Aprilia and admits he'd held discussions since March, but was unwilling to wait for the verdict on Andrea Iannone's appeal to have a doping ban overturned.

"They wanted me to go there, I was speaking with them since March and they had from March to sign the agreement, but they wanted to wait for Andrea," he told Autosport.

"And I was not waiting for Andrea. So, I told them before the announcement that Andrea had been banned that I didn't want to do it anyway."

Crutchlow will replace Jorge Lorenzo, who admitted recently he has held discussions with Aprilia over a test rider role.

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Takaaki Nakagami topped the first MotoGP practice for the Valencia Grand Prix on his LCR Honda, while championship leader Joan Mir was eighth fastest.

Following his European GP win last weekend, Mir comes into this weekend's second race at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit facing his first match point in the championship with a 37-point lead.

Franco Morbidelli set the early pace on his Petronas SRT Yamaha with a 1m32.195s, though the surplus in grip compared to last weekend meant times would rapidly tumble.

Morbidelli and Pol Espargaro on the KTM traded top spot for the first 10 minutes, with the former dipping underneath the race lap record with a 1m30.944s.

This stood as the benchmark for the next 10 minutes of the session before Nakagami on the 2019 LCR Honda moved ahead with a 1m30.829s.

With no threat of rain for the rest of the day, there was no rush for time attacks in the latter stages, leaving Nakagami's time intact through to the chequered flag.

Morbidelli trailed the LCR rider by 0.115 seconds, with Maverick Vinales completing the top three on a more encouraging start to this weekend than the disastrous European GP.

Espargaro held fourth on his KTM ahead of his Aprilia-mounted brother Aleix Espargaro, while Johann Zarco was sixth and top Ducati runner on his Avintia GP19.

He headed the factory GP20 of Andrea Dovizioso, who announced earlier this week he will be taking a sabbatical in 2021.

Dovizioso was 0.026s clear of Mir on the Suzuki, with Tech3 KTM's Miguel Oliveira and the Honda of Stefan Bradl round out the top 10.

Bradl will remain on the factory RC213V for the final two rounds, after HRC confirmed earlier this week reigning world champion Marc Marquez would not return to action in 2020.

European GP runner-up Alex Rins was a low-key 11th on his Suzuki ahead of Pramac's Jack Miller and Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha, who was cleared to ride yesterday following another scare with COVID-19 tests on Tuesday.

With his championship hopes all but gone, with the SRT rider trailing Mir by 37 points along with Rins, Fabio Quartararo's FP1 appeared to be another frustrating affair down in 16th.

There looked to be more struggles for the Ducatis of Danilo Petrucci and Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac) down in 18th and 19th, while Lorenzo Savadori was 1.943s off the pace in last place as he began his second MotoGP race weekend with Aprilia.

Tech3's Iker Lecuona was absent from FP1, but is expected to ride from Saturday having cleared a COVID-19 test after positive case for his brother forced him out of the European GP.

Valencia GP - FP1 results

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Max Verstappen led a Red Bull one-two in an unrepresentative first practice session at the Turkish Grand Prix on a very low grip track.

The Istanbul Park circuit, holding its first race since 2011, was resurfaced two weeks ago and drivers were more than 10 seconds off the pace expected.

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton was 15th and team-mate Valtteri Bottas ninth.

Hamilton will be champion as long as he does not lose more than seven points to Bottas.

With Mercedes expected to lead the way, that effectively means he will clinch the title if he wins the race, or if he finishes second to Bottas as long as the Finn does not also set fastest lap.

Hamilton, who can clinch a record-equalling seventh world title on Sunday, was more than five seconds off the pace.

Verstappen was 0.241 seconds quicker than Albon, who was 0.189secs quicker than Leclerc.

There were a number of spins throughout the session as drivers struggled with the low-grip surface, with Bottas, Verstappen and Gasly joined by Alpha Tauri's Daniil Kvyat and Williams' Nicholas Latifi.

And the session was briefly red-flagged early on when Leclerc slid wide and knocked over the bollard marking the entry to the pit lane.

It was a tough session for McLaren's Carlos Sainz, who was called into the pits with an engine problem.

The team said they had found an electrical issue and sent him out again, only for the Spaniard to stop on track saying the problem was "engine, power steering".

Williams driver George Russell is to receive a grid penalty for using more than the permitted number of engine parts this season, after exceeding his allocation of internal combustion engines, turbos and MGU-Hs, the hybrid device that recovers energy from the turbo.