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Sylvain Guintoli has proudly announced few days ago that he will contest the 2014 eni FIM Superbike World Championship with the factory Aprilia team. The Frenchman, who had a competitive first campaign with the manufacturer from Noale this year, was in contention for the title up to the last round, after leading the standings for two thirds of the season.

How do you feel about the contract extension with Aprilia?

"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. I led the Championship for a long time, but unfortunately the last races were difficult because of the injury."

How is the shoulder now?

"I had surgery yesterday. It's very sore today, 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."

Does that mean you will not be testing at Aragon next 14-15 of November?

"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."

You have a new "boss" this year, Romano Albesiano. What can you tell us about him and how much do you think it is going to change compared to last season?

"We met at the start of the year, at the team presentation, and again at Jerez for the last race. The first contact we had was good, he is very passionate about racing and he wants to win, like we all do. He's very intelligent and competent and Aprilia Racing is a group with a huge amount of experience and success, so I'm sure everything will go the right way next year."

You also have another competitive rider as team mate...

"It's important to have a competitive team mate because it makes everybody stronger. Marco (Melandri) is a very strong rider, like Eugene (Laverty) was. I had no problem this year and I don't think it's going to change in 2014."