EWC
Sylvain Guintoli, the 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 Drômois started riding motorcycles at the age of 4 with the machine his schoolteacher father made for him. At 11, he 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 season as a reserve rider at Tech 3 where he became a rider 500 test rider, the Drômois returned to 250, without much success. He then gained a reputation as a talented boy, but too much of a dilettante to confirm his talent at the highest level. In 2006, he nevertheless reached the MotoGP category with Hervé Poncharal's structure. He then completed a season with a Ducati Pramac but found himself without a ride. He then decided to enter the British Superbike Championship where he was seriously injured at the start of the season after being hit by Joshua Brooks.
From world consecration to new challenges
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 by Aprilia to succeed Max Biaggi, he finished third in 2013 before
being crowned Superbike World Champion in 2014, becoming the second Frenchman to win this title.
After two final seasons in WorldSBK with Honda and Yamaha, he joined Suzuki MotoGP as a rider test rider while competing in the Endurance World Championship with the SERT Yoshimura. In 2021, he won a new EWC title with Gregg Black and Xavier Siméon. Three years later, Guintoli joined BMW to develop the M1000RR in WorldSBK and race in EWC with the BMW Motorrad team of Werner Daemen.
Third in the championship in 2024 and 2025, the rider SHARK takes on a new challenge this season, still with BMW,
but within the Japanese structure Auto Race Ube Racing. He will team up
with Hans Soomer and Naomichi Uramoto.
