We catch up with Sylvain Guintoli after his pole effort

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Sylvain Guintoli broke the lap record and almost the 1:30 barrier on his way to pole
Sylvain Guintoli broke the lap record and almost the 1:30 barrier on his way to pole

Sylvain Guintoli smashed the lap record in Superpole for the Eni World Superbike Championship (WSBK) at Phillip Island.  He qualified in a 1:30.0, some two tenths up on Ducatis’s Guiliano and teammate Marco Melandri.

The session in brief:

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli has produced the best ever world superbike lap of the Phillip Island circuit in qualifying for round one of the 2014 Superbike World Championship.

The Aprilia-mounted Guintoli produced his scorching 1min30.038sec lap with five minutes to go in the 15-minute Superpole session, with Italy’s Davide Guigliano (1:30.135) also eclipsing Carlos Checa’s previous best lap of 1:30.234, set in 2013.

“I am happy to be on the bike and back on the pace,” said Guintoli. “The off-season was a nightmare with my injured shoulder – I was off the bike for four months — but I now feel good and am back in shape.

“It ‘s a shame to be so close to the 29-second mark around Phillip Island, but we’ll now have to leave that for next year.

“It’s no secret that this circuit is one of my favourites, but a lot of riders are on the pace. Hopefully the power of the RSV4 Factory will get me through.”

Guintoli — a race winner at Phillip Island in 2013 — and Guigliano will be joined on the front row of the grid by Marco Melandri (Aprilia, 1:30.332) in tomorrow’s two 22-lap races, while the second row will comprise Eugene Laverty (Suzuki , 1:30.385), practice pacesetter Alex Lowes (Suzuki, 1:30.421) and Honda’s Jonathan Rea (1:30.660).

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Sylvain Guintoli in the media conference after his pole effort
Sylvain Guintoli in the media conference after his pole effort

By Sam Tickell, February 2014

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