Sylvain Guintoli to make MotoGP return
Sylvain Guintoli will return to MotoGP action during a one-off appearance in front of his home fans at Le Mans.
The French star has been called up by Suzuki to replace the injured Alex Rins. Rins broke his wrist in Austin and is being replaced by test rider Takuya Tsuda for this weekend's Jerez race.
Former World Superbike champion Guintoli, currently competing for Suzuki in BSB, will join the MotoGP team during a Tuesday test at Jerez, to get acquainted with the GSX-RR.
"First, I would like to thank Suzuki for giving me this fantastic opportunity," Guintoli said. "Being able to ride the GSX-RR, currently one of the fastest racing machine in the world is a very exciting prospect, let alone at my home race in front of the French fans.
"The 'Le Mans Grand Prix' brings back a lot of strong memories, the best one of course was leading the MotoGP race for a few laps in 2007. This is going to be a very difficult challenge, adapting to the very powerful prototype MotoGP machine and the Michelin tyres, but my main goal is to enjoy the experience and give 100% commitment to Team Suzuki Ecstar.
"The test on Tuesday will give us some time to adapt and to start understanding this amazing motorcycle. Finally, I want to wish a very good recovery to Alex."
Guintoli spent five seasons as a privateer in the 250cc class, claiming one podium, then joined MotoGP for 2007 (Tech 3 Yamaha and 2008 (Pramac Ducati). His best finish was a fourth place, after which he moved to BSB and then WorldSBK.
Team Manager Davide Brivio added: "For us it's a good opportunity to be able to substitute Alex with Sylvain, who is a rider with strong and solid experience in racing, both in Superbike and MotoGP. He is a former World Champion in Superbike and he is already racing for Suzuki in the British Superbike Championship, so he is already part of the Suzuki family.
"With him we will try to carry on with the development of our GSX-RR, trying to improve it more and more. Also, during the races, hopefully we will be able to prepare an even more competitive package for Alex when he returns to us. Of course we hope this will happen very soon, that he is at 100%. In the meantime, we'll try to fully take advantage of these races.
"I want to give a warm welcome to Sylvain from our team, and all we ask from him is to enjoy his time with us and make the most of this opportunity. We are also happy to give this small token of affection to our French fans, who will have another Frenchman racing the MotoGP in their home GP."
