WorldSBK Champion Sylvain Guintoli has announced he will dovetail his two-wheel racing commitments with a move into four-wheel motorsport as attempts to make his own bit of racing history.

The Frenchman will embark on a season of competing in the European Le Mans Cup with British team Steller Motorsport as part of a campaign that could see him lining up for the iconic Le Mans 24 Heures too.

He will contest this alongside his duties competing in the two-wheel Endurance World Championship, which he will embark for the first time with the factory BMW team having made the switch from Suzuki over the winter.

Guintoli - a former MotoGP and BSB rider, as well as the 2014 WorldSBK Champion - is bidding to become the first person to win the Le Mans 24 Heures on both two wheels and four. He is already a two-time winner of the round-the-clock classic on two wheels.

Guintoli has already enjoyed a run with the Buckinghamshire-based team in its GTE class Audi R8, scoring a top ten finish at Le Mans in a 55mins race, but will this year compete a full season in its LMP3 machine.

The plan is for Steller Motorsport - which has taken delivery of an Oreca LMP2 car for 2024 - to secure an entry to the Le Mans 24 Hours in due course, with Guintoli as one of its drivers. The entry list for the 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours is yet to be confirmed.

“I am embarking on a brand new challenge, I want to be the first person to win the Le Mans 24 Hours both on bikes and cars. On bikes I have done it already in 2021 and 2022, but with cars the journey starts right now.

“This is a proper racing car, the car will be run by Steller Motorsport. For Sylvain, he is coming into LMP3, the focus for the future is there will be LMP2 and from there, who knows. For now we want to support him any way we can..”

Guintoli will be paired with British GT4 Champion Senan Fielding in the LMP3 Cup.