He may also ride a MotoGP, which gains in resistance or that you see him narrating for BT Sport. That's how versatile Sylvain Guintoli is. The Frenchman is no longer a child and at 41 years old, he has had one of the longest sporting careers of all the drivers of his generation.
Like so many others, he climbed the ranks professionally until he reached MotoGP, where he never had a motorcycle competitive enough to stand out. He emigrated to WSBK where he won the title in 2013, after several years in which he fought for podiums and victories. Anybody would have already signed that record, but then came his big moment in the World Endurance Championship with the Suzuki SERT.
With them he became champion again, specifically in 2021, but in addition to that he managed to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans on a motorcycle in 2021 and 2022. Now that he is no longer an official Suzuki rider, with the Japanese firm's MotoGP project finished, he continues with his role as a development driver but for BMW in the WSBK.
However, his sporting ambition remains intact, and to the victories of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on the 21st and 22nd he wants to add another very different one: that of the 24 Hours of Le Mans but with cars. If winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans is an inhuman achievement, achieving it twice is titanic and three times, also changing from motorcycles to cars, is historic.
Guintoli seeks to be the first driver in history to achieve both victories
And to date there is no human being who has managed to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in cars or motorcycles. Either they have done it in one discipline or they have done it in another, but none has reached the top of the podium in both.
That's why Guintoli's challenge is so special. He will do it in the LMP3 category, and he is already working hard with the British team Steler Motorsport, with whom he will take part in the test and other events of the Le Mans Cup, an endurance category that also visits other legendary tracks such as Spa-Franchorchamps , Paul Ricard, Portimao, Mugello or Montmeló.
As for the 24 Hours of Le Mans for cars, it will take place on June 15 and 16, so the Frenchman has little time to acclimatize to such brutal cornering compared to what he is used to on two wheels. Of course, before, in April he will face the challenge with a BMW in the 24 Hours of motorcycles, can you imagine that he achieves victory in both?
