Guintoli undergoes surgery on shoulder

Sylvain Guintoli looks ahead to the 2014 World Superbike Championship after undergoing surgery and securing a new contract with Aprilia.
Guintoli, Jerez WSBK 2013
Guintoli, Jerez WSBK 2013
© Gold and Goose

Sylvain Guintoli says he will turn his attentions to the 2014 World Superbike Championship season after undergoing surgery on the shoulder that he believes hampered his 2013 title quest.

The Frenchman, in his first season as a factory Aprilia rider, was the long-time leader of the 2013 standings despite accumulating just a single win over the 14 events.

However, his challenge would dwindle during the second-half of the year as he was overhauled by Tom Sykes and team-mate Eugene Laverty, the former MotoGP rider crediting a shoulder injury, sustained in a road bike accident between rounds eight and nine, as a factor in his struggles to stay in contention.

"I led the Championship for a long time, but unfortunately the last races were difficult because of the injury. I had surgery this week. It's very sore, but I guess it's normal, I was telling everybody - and myself as well - that everything was going to be fine, but the injury was actually quite bad.

"After Jerez I wanted to wait a couple of weeks to see if it would come back but it did not improve, so we decided to undergo surgery. The collarbone is now back where it should be and now I can start recovery.

"With the surgery and the recovery time expected I won't be able to test before January. Both myself and Aprilia want to start 2014 the best way so it's important for me to be back to full fitness."

Despite finishing behind Laverty in the overall standings, Guintoli has nonetheless secured a contract extension with Aprilia for 2014 - where he will be joined by Marco Melandri - and is optimistic he will enjoy greater success next season.

"I'm obviously very happy to be racing another year with Aprilia, we had a solid season and I'm looking forward to build up on what we have done so far. 2013 was a fantastic first year with them and I felt very comfortable with the team straight away."

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