Former World Superbike Champion Sylvain Guintoli believes he will have to make a step up in order to challenge for honours in this year’s World Superbike series.

The Frenchman goes into this season with the brand new Pata Yamaha R1 and young charger Alex Lowes as team-mate. Although the team have tested successfully, Guintoli believes it is going to be a big job as the competition in 2016 is stronger than it was last year.

“Everything feels good and for my this is a very interesting new challenge, to be in at the very start with this bike which has such big interest and the bike which is fantastic. The bike did really well in various championships last year, including winning the BSB title, and at the Suzuka Eight-Hours race so it has clearly performed well,” Guintoli told bikesportnews.com.

“We have a strong base to work from but the competition, both from the other manufacturers and the riders will be strong, so we have to step it up. It is a big job but it is nice to be working with such a good base and team. It is a very difficult challenge but for me it has come at a great time after a difficult last year (with Pata Honda).

“We worked hard then to get competitive after a bad start for me having been badly injured before the start. We couldn’t find the speed of the previous year (with Aprilia) but we worked hard at it, stuck together and got a podium at the end of the season.

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