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French star Sylvain Guintoli secured an overall seventh place finish for his Alstare Suzuki team in 2010, in what was his rookie season in WSBK racing. The former 250GP, MotoGP and BSB rider settled into WSBK racing quickly and came close to scoring a number of podiums. He never quite got a top three but he was consistent enough to be sandwiched between the two official Ducati riders - Haga and Fabrizio - in the final rankings. Sylvain's main highlights were a fastest lap in Australia, and making two front row starts late in the season, in Germany and his native France.

He has now got a Ducati of his own to race in 2011, for the newly created Liberty Ducati team, which is based in the Czech Republic. His team-mate will be Jakub Smrz. Said Guintoli, "I have never raced a big vee-twin Ducati before, although I have raced with the vee-four in MotoGP. I am looking forward to my first ride on the bike and we should get some good testing done before the start of the season, just after the New Year. I am taking my data technician with me from the Alstare team, but otherwise it will be an all-new experience for me. I have known Jakub for a long time of course, and we used to race in 250s together many years ago. We get on very well and I am looking forward to working with him."

Guintoli will have a number of ‘home' rounds to compete in for 2011, with his real home round at Magny-Cours in France now added to by two rounds in his adopted home in the UK. He said, "Yes, I heard about Donington joining Silverstone and that means two short commutes for me on those weekends, particularly for Donington. I have mixed feelings about it after my big crash there in BSB in 2009 of course, but the circuit has a fantastic layout and I always enjoy riding there."