Sylvain Guintoli Joins Prestigious Club After Winning EWC Title

Only four riders have won both WSBK and EWC crowns.

By: Dustin Wheelen

Oct 13, 2021 at 2:12pm ET

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French motorcycle racer Sylvain Guintoli has been a journeyman for the majority of his career. After competing in 250cc Grand Prix racing from 2000-2006, the Frenchman got his crack at the big leagues as a rider for MotoGP’s Tech 3 Yamaha team in 2007. Despite some surprising results, Guintoli joined the Pramac Ducati squad in 2008, but his time with the satellite team was short-lived.

After a short stint in British Superbike for the 2009 season, Guintoli joined the Superbike World Championship (WSBK) ranks. In 2010, he rode for Suzuki before transitioning to Ducati for 2011-2012. The Frenchman found his stride with Aprilia, however, finishing the 2013 season in third place and capturing the WSBK crown in 2014. He then bounced between Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki for his last three years of superbike competition.

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Most recently, Guintoli joined the MotoGP Suzuki Ecstar team as an official tester. His input helped the Hamamatsu outfit develop the GSX-RR prototype. Joan Mir rode that bike to Suzuki’s first MotoGP title in 20 years when he captured the rider’s championship in 2020. With Guintoli finally finding a suitable home at Suzuki, he joined the Yoshimura-Sert Suzuki Endurance World Championship (EWC) in 2021.

After winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Bol d’Or, Guintoli and teammates Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon wrapped up the 2021 EWC title with a win at the Czech Republic’s Most Circuit. With the EWC trophy in his case, Guintoli joins an exclusive club of WSBK and EWC champions. Only Raymond Roche, Carl Fogarty, and Doug Pollen have achieved that same feat. At 39 years old, Guintoli still has a lot of endurance races and testing left in the tank, especially if the bike he’s riding has a Suzuki badge on it.