Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK rider Sylvain Guintoli is eagerly awaiting this weekend's return to one of his favourite tracks on the 2016 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar as round 11 heads to his home race in France and the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.
Guintoli and teammate Alex Lowes both enjoy the passionate atmosphere of the Fassi French Round and are looking forward to strong showings on their YZF-R1s in the two races, come rain or shine.
Magny-Cours marks the end of a busy five weeks for Lowes, having participated in five consecutive race events across WorldSBK and MotoGP, the latter as he substituted for the injured Bradley Smith on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1. The young Briton was unfortunately unable to compete in last weekend's Gran Premio Movistar de AragÌ_n race having himself sustained an injury to his left foot during Saturday's FP3. Lowes has since returned to the UK to undergo intensive physiotherapy and is determined to be fit for the two 21-lap contests at the Nevers circuit.
"Apart from the fact that I have never had a dry race here, Magny-Cours is a track that I really like," Lowes explained. "I always feel like you can go faster there but actually trying to do it is very difficult as it isn't an easy circuit at all and can be hard to find a good bike set up. The two big chicanes in the middle of the lap are the most difficult, as setting the bike to be agile and easy to manoeuvre makes it unstable in the fast first sector of the track, but it certainly suits a hard working team getting the most out of the weekend and a good set up for Sunday!
"My final race in MotoGP didn't end the way I would have liked but my physio has gone well for the past couple of days, I'm feeling ok and will be doing my best for a strong weekend on the YZF-R1."
