OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
VIVE LES FRENCH !
EXCITING CONTENT
The Motul FIM Superbike World Championship has been won by French riders in the past , but it is in the FIM Supersport World Championship that France absolutely shines above all other nations . Why ? We endeavour to find out why France is THE giant of WorldSSP as well as one of the top nations in WorldSBK racing .
It only took three seasons for a French rider to win the WorldSBK championship , in the brooding form of an intense racer that went by the name of Raymond Roche . A full time arrival into WorldSBK in 1989 after a successful but abruptly ended MotoGP™ career , he took one year to learn this Ducati streetbike racing thing and then another year to win it outright . As hard as they come , as fast as anyone on his day , his ‘ year ’ was 1990 . He is one of the main men behind Shark helmets , even now . It took until 2014 and the ever improving season-long performance of socalled second Aprilia factory rider Sylvain Guintoli to use his intelligence , experience and finally super-fast engine to win a season that looked like Tom Sykes ’ year again until determination and circumstance collided and Guintoli showed what a class act he really is .
51