Sylvain Guintoli · Biography

Sylvain Jean-Baptiste Guintoli was born on 24 June 1982 in Montélimar, in the Rhône valley, and came through the French federation’s racing programme, which took him to the Grand Prix world championship as a teenager. He raced in 250cc and MotoGP, competed in the British Superbike Championship and won the 2014 World Superbike title with Aprilia. He later became a Suzuki test rider and was crowned world endurance champion in 2021.

The 250cc years

Guintoli made his Grand Prix debut at the 2000 French GP on an Équipe de France Honda and retired from the race. In 2001 he switched to an Aprilia run by the same outfit and finished 14th overall with 44 points, his best result a fourth place at the Dutch TT in Assen. In 2002 he worked as a Yamaha test rider and made one MotoGP start with Tech 3, finishing 17th at the Czech Grand Prix.

He returned to the quarter-litre class in 2003 with Campetella Racing, took his only podium in the category, a third place at Assen, and ended the year tenth. After a quieter 2004 with the same team, he went back to Équipe de France for 2005 and 2006, finishing tenth and ninth in the standings on an Aprilia.

MotoGP with Yamaha and Ducati

In 2007 he stepped up to MotoGP with Tech 3 Yamaha. He broke a collarbone in early pre-season testing but completed the year 16th with 50 points, with fourth place at Motegi his best finish. In 2008 he rode a Ducati for the Alice Team, run by Pramac and D’Antin, finishing 13th on 67 points with a best result of sixth in Germany. The team did not retain him for 2009.

From the British series to World Superbike

In 2009 he joined Worx Crescent Suzuki in the British Superbike Championship. His season was cut short at Donington Park, where a collision with Josh Brookes left him with a broken tibia and fibula. In 2010 the same team moved him up to World Superbike to replace Max Neukirchner, and he finished seventh on 197 points without a podium.

In 2011 he moved to Ducati with the Liberty team, alongside Jakub Smrž, and placed sixth with 210 points. In 2012 he took his first World Superbike wins on a Ducati, at Assen, Silverstone and Magny-Cours, and finished seventh. Aprilia brought him into its factory team for 2013 to take the seat vacated by Max Biaggi; he won once, scored 402 points and finished third.

World champion at Losail

In 2014, his second year with Aprilia, he won the second race of the opening round at Phillip Island. He arrived at the final round in Losail, Qatar, twelve points behind Kawasaki’s defending champion Tom Sykes. He won both races, the first night races in the championship, and took the title with 416 points to Sykes’s 410, with Jonathan Rea third on 334. He was the third rider to seal the crown with a double at the final round, after Colin Edwards in 2002 and Troy Bayliss in 2008. Aprilia also won the manufacturers’ title that year.

In 2015 he raced for Pata Honda, run by Ten Kate, and finished sixth with 218 points, ahead of teammate Michael van der Mark. In 2016 he signed for Yamaha’s factory return. A crash at Imola left him with several fractures and cost him ten races, but he still gave the team its first podium of that era, in Qatar, and finished 11th. He ended his World Superbike career in 2017 with nine wins and 42 podiums from 170 starts.

Suzuki: testing, replacement rides and endurance

In 2017 he returned to the British championship with Suzuki and won a race at Assen. The same year he replaced the injured Álex Rins in MotoGP on the GSX-RR. He then served as Suzuki’s MotoGP test rider, contesting several Grands Prix as a wildcard or stand-in in 2018 and 2019, the latter bringing 7 points. That role ended in 2022, when Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP.

Alongside that he raced in the Endurance World Championship with Suzuki’s squad, finishing fifth at the 2019 Suzuka 8 Hours with Yoshimura. In June 2021, with Gregg Black and Xavier Siméon, he won the Le Mans 24 Hours for motorcycles with Yoshimura SERT Motul, eight laps clear of the runners-up. In October 2021 at Most, in the Czech Republic, the trio finished third and secured the world endurance title. In 2024 he was a test rider for BMW’s World Superbike team, alongside Bradley Smith.