Following a difficult 2015, when his title-defending season yielded just a single podium finish, Sylvain Guintoli is now refreshed and recharged following his first test on the Yamaha YZF-R1.

For the upcoming 2016 campaign in the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, the Frenchman joins England’s Alex Lowes in the Crescent-run Yamaha operation.

“It feels great!” Guintoli told WorldSBK.com following two days of testing the new Yamaha in Jerez this week. “It was very much about getting to grips with the YZF-R1 and the new team, starting to work together and understanding the potential of the bike and what we have to do to make it better. It’s a really good first contact - and it sounds great! It’s very positive and I’m very happy!”

In 2015, the Yamaha YZF-R1 enjoyed numerous successes. It won the final FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race of the year in the hands of Jeremy Guarnoni as well as clinching the British Superbike Championship (BSB) with Josh Brookes and the historic Suzuka 8 Hour race with Bradley Smith, Pol Espargaro and Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

“The YZF-R1 has already had one year of racing in various championships, where it has been successful,” Guintoli continued. “I would say the base feels very good. What we have to do is to suit it to the World Superbike rulebook and make it good with those rules, but the base is very good: the engine is very smooth and the chassis feels great. That is the main important thing for us. We just have to work on the details to find the maximum potential.”

When asked how happy he feels on a scale of one to ten, Guintoli replied:

“About 12, really [laughs]! It feels good. It’s a really interesting challenge, working with such a good bunch of people who want to do well. We’re not here to mess around. We want to be successful. There is a big drive within Yamaha and within the team; everybody wants to do very well, so it is very exciting.”

This week’s Jerez test was also an opportunity for Guintoli to reunite with the Crescent Yamaha mechanics, many of whom he worked with in BSB in 2009.