BMW Motorrad Motorsport has confirmed former MotoGP rider Bradley Smith and Sylvain Guintoli in its lineup of test riders ahead of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship season.
Bradley Smith and Sylvain Guintoli have signed with BMW Motorrad Motorsport as test and reserve riders. Both will become members of the new test team, which will focus on developing and testing the M 1000 RR racing in the World Superbike Championship and the Endurance World Championship.
Bradley Smith has largely stayed away from the spotlight since leaving MotoGP at the conclusion of the 2020 season, appearing only occasionally in the international scene in MotoE and the Endurance World Championship.
Smith, 33, has most of his racing background in the MotoGP paddock, having been a rider in the KTM project’s early stages. However, his experience with production-derived bikes is minimal as he has only participated in the Suzuka 8 Hours in 2015 and the Supersport World Championship round in Argentina last year.
“To be asked by BMW Motorrad to join the test team is a great privilege,” Smith said. “I will work my hardest to deliver what our four WorldSBK factory riders need to battle with the best in the championship.”
Guintoli, who is 41 years old, has a long history with production-derived motorcycles as well as MotoGP experience. The 2014 WSBK champion was a Suzuki test rider until last year in addition to winning the EWC in 2021.
“It’s fantastic that their wealth of experience strengthens our project,” Christian Gonschor, BMW’s technical director, said.
“Sylvain brings extensive knowledge from many years in the Superbike and Endurance World Championships, where he also secured the titles, as well as from MotoGP.
“Bradley complements this knowledge perfectly with his extensive experience as a race and test rider in MotoGP.
“They are the perfect riders for our new test team, which focuses solely on testing work on the track, independent of race commitments.”
BMW recently signed 2021 WorldSBK Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, who will join Michael van der Mark in the factory ROKiT BMW line-up for 2024 as Scott Redding and Garrett Gerloff will be part of the satellite Bonovo Action Racing team.
The fresh arrivals join BMW at a time the manufacturer is investing heavily to improve its WorldSBK operations. Since returning to the series in 2019 with the S 1000 RR/M 1000 RR, Ducati, Kawasaki, and Yamaha have been easily outperforming BMW.
