Source: Supplied.

Former Superbike World Champion Sylvain Guintoli managed to put Pata Yamaha on the podium for the first time during his final appearance with the team at Qatar’s WorldSBK final round.

The Frenchman will be replaced by Michael van der Mark for 2017, however third-place in Saturday’s opening race was a strong way to exit the team, while Alex Lowes will remain for another season.

“It’s been a good day with a great race this evening,” Guintoli said. “I started by qualifying well and then took a good rhythm into the race straight away, with a strong pace. I really feel like I raced well.

“I was pushing on the limit with some good moves in the early stages before pulling away. It’s a really positive result for us and a great satisfaction for me to take the first podium for Yamaha in their return, especially after almost five months away from racing, so I’m very happy.”

Guintoli backed up his result with a fourth in race two, placing him 11th in the final championship standings and one position ahead of Lowes despite contesting only 15 of the 26 races held during the season.