EWC
Sylvain Guintoli, journey of an extraordinary enthusiast
Born on June 24, 1982, in Montélimar, Sylvain Guintoli is undoubtedly one of the most atypical French riders.
Now settled in England where he got married, father of six children, the Drôme native started riding motorcycles at the age of 4 with the machine his teacher father had made for him.
At 11, Sylvain trained with a 60 KX Kawasaki. First scooter races at 12, first French championship title at 13... Then came the Aprilia Cup, the French 125 championship, and then the beginnings in the 250 Grand Prix alongside Randy de Puniet with Jean-Claude Besse's team in 2001.
After his reserve season at Tech 3 where he became a 500 test rider, the Drôme native returned to 250, without much success. He then gained a reputation as a talented boy, but too dilettante to confirm his talent at the highest level.
In 2006, he nevertheless reached the category with Hervé Poncharal's structure. He completed a season with a Ducati Pramac and then found himself without a ride. He then decided to commit to the British Superbike Championship where he was seriously injured at the start of the season after being hit by Joshua Brooks.
The art of bouncing back and the quest for excellence
This did not prevent him from bouncing back the following year in the World Championship with a Suzuki from the Alstare team.
Then came a Ducati with which he achieved his first successes in 2012. Recruited the following year by the Aprilia team to succeed Max Biaggi, Sylvain Guintoli finished his first season with the RSV4 in third position.
A year later, he climbed to the top of the podium to become the second French world champion in the history of Superbike, and to prove at the same time that there are a thousand ways to reach the top. After two last seasons in WSBK with a Honda and then a Yamaha, he joined the Suzuki team with a role as a test rider.
In parallel with this activity, he participates in the Endurance World Championship with the SERT Yoshimura. In 2021, he secured a new world crown there alongside Gregg Black and Xavier Siméon.
Last winter, Sylvain Guintoli committed to BMW to develop the German WSBK bike and race in EWC with the BMW Motorrad team led by Werner Daemen.
