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Race 1 of the Gaerne Qatar Round saw three different manufacturers stand on the podium on Saturday night, and for the first time this year it was finally Yamaha’s turn. And Sylvain Guintoli was the man who made it possible.

The 2014 Superbike World Champion set a solid pace on Friday that saw him start the race from fourth on the grid. The Frenchman was confident heading into the final Round in Qatar since the Losail International Circuit holds the memories of his World Championship win.

With over 15 years of racing experience and more than 45 podiums to his name, it was only a matter of time before the Yamaha rider climbed onto the rostrum once again. However, the 2016 season has seen him struggle with injuries he sustained early in the season, putting him on the sidelines for many months. Couple that with the Yamaha squad only returning to the WorldSBK Championship this season, and having to play catch up to the other teams, it is fair to say that 2016 has been a challenging year for both Guintoli and the Japanese marque.

But Race 1 was special to watch for fans of the Frenchman, as he shot to fourth on lap 3, after briefly falling behind at the start. He overtook Tom Sykes but it wasn’t enough. He had the pace and he pushed his Yamaha to it’s limits and before long he had caught up to third placed Nicky Hayden. Once he was in third he kept powering on but the leading duo of Chaz Davies and Jonathan Rea were too far ahead to catch.

“Well it’s been a difficult year, especially for me being in hospital quite a bit and recovering for most of the year,” said Guintoli in Parc Ferme after his first podium of the season. “So since I got back we have been building up our rhythm and speed again. Today I felt like my riding was really good. I really enjoyed myself. We managed to get the tyres to the end. It was good, we had an incredible race. Good work to my team and everyone supporting me. After the year we’ve had, this first podium with Yamaha is symbolic and it’s really good for me.”