GMT 94 Yamaha team owner/manager Christophe Guyot was recently interviewed by Francis Boutet for the French website www.bike70.com. Former racer Papa Thiam translated the interview from the original French for Roadracingworld.com. The interview covered the team’s difficult 2009 season year-to-date in the Superbike World Championship and the team’s plans for the future. BIKE70.COM: Hello Christophe, how are you? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Hello Francis, hello everyone. Doing well, thanks. BIKE70.COM: GMT 94 remains one of the favorites for the next Bol d’Or and is leading the French Superbike Championship with Sebastien Gimbert, so how do you explain the lack of results in the World Superbike Championship? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I still don’t have any explanation. We are generally one second per lap slower than last year. On some race tracks, we are two seconds off last year’s times. This is particularly frustrating. BIKE70.COM: Are you blaming the new R1? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Of course not. With the same bike, Sebastien Gimbert broke the lap record at the 24 hours of Le Mans. With his French Championship bike, he is also breaking lap records. BIKE70.COM: Does GMT still belong in the World Superbike Championship? Isn’t it too ambitious considering your financial resources? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: If we had just matched last year’s performance, we would have made the Superpole at every round this year. The number of strong bikes on the grid has increased this year, but other than the extraterrestrial Ben Spies, the strength of the field has remained the same. We are frustrated with the situation. We have proved in the past that we do belong in this championship. BIKE70.COM: Why did the team keep David Checa? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Thanks to David, we have had good results in a World Championship. He has qualified on the front row in the Supersport World Championship on several occasions, and scored many points. He allowed us to rank in the top 10 with just one rider on the team. We did not score any podiums, but had very good fourth and fifth-place finishes. BIKE70.COM: But not in Superbike… CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Seventh on the grid at Magny-Cours last year, 11th and 12th (Gimbert) in Australia 25 seconds behind race winner Bayliss. Sixth (Gimbert) after the second qualifying session in Germany. We did some good things in Superbike. We just stopped in our tracks. I don’t know. We are trying to figure it out. BIKE70.COM: Why don’t you have a second rider? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: We came really close. (Yamaha France General Manager) Jean-Claude Olivier signed a (support) contract (contingent on our hiring) Sylvain Guintoli. Everything was set. With Sylvain, we could get a lot more equipment. With his name, we were getting support that we could not secure with other riders. Then, Sylvain–who had approached us about the ride–stopped communicating. I learned in the media that he had signed a contract with a British Superbike team. BIKE70.COM: Why not hire Regis Laconi? In light of his results on the Ducati, you must have had some regrets. CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Of course, we have regrets. But the contract with Yamaha was specifically tied to Sylvain Guintoli. By the time he signed in BSB, the economic crisis was already a serious threat. It was a hard blow to us. Large investments in Superbike were out of the question, even with Regis. Jean-Claude Olivier was sincerely sorry, and regrets it does much as I do. But he made the right decision. BIKE70.COM: Why do you say he made the right decision? That’s rather surprising. CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: In an economic crisis, there are people feeling some real pain. People losing jobs. Racing only makes sense when it benefits everyone. Jean-Claude Olivier was right to put his company and people before our racing needs. BIKE70.COM: In that case, why did you still proceed with Superbike this year? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I had already signed a contract with the promoter. Of course, it would have been easy to back out. But I would rather accept failure than give up trying. I would have never considered breaking a commitment. Of course, getting one of the best riders would have allowed us to get more equipment and support. But still, we should be doing better than this. BIKE70.COM: I read an interview with (Yamaha Italia Team ManagerMassimo Meregalli. He wants to help a World Superbike satellite team. Why hasn’t he thought of you? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I read that press release. He did think about us. We were even warmly welcomed at his shop this past winter. But Massimo knows that we do not have the resources to buy or lease his bikes. That solution would be ideal, but we just can’t afford it. In the meantime, he does what he can to help us. We have benefited from their technical assistance, and even from a few parts. BIKE70.COM: So, what will happen next year? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: Motorcycle racing! I promise. In an economic crisis, we adapt, we suffer just like everyone else, but giving up on racing would be terrible. We can’t just give up on our dreams and the things we have a passion for. There needs to be more to life than just having a job to pay for food and shelter. BIKE70.COM: Will you still be in World Superbike racing? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I can’t answer that yet. The season isn’t over. Things could turn around on one really good result. BIKE70.COM: But what if there is none? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: If we were in 25th place while being faster than last year, then yes, I would re-assess our presence in the Championship. But this is not the case. Obviously, coming back next year seems difficult. At the moment, I can’t really see how we could do an entire season. We knew we needed to be in the top 10 to continue next year. Perhaps we should start over like we did in 2005, with just a few wild-card rides until we are competitive again. BIKE70.COM: Why not go back to the Supersport class? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I probably made a mistake by leaving that class right when we were making good progress. We had scored many points and had some very good races. Podium finishes were almost within our reach. David Checa or Sebastien Gimbert could have battled the leaders in the class. So yes, I could certainly envision a return to Supersport, to regroup before taking another shot at the Superbike class. BIKE70.COM: What do you think of Moto 2? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: GPs are obviously a dream of mine. They represent motorcycle racing history. Maybe someday. But for now, my motorcycle background and passion are in Superbike. BIKE70.COM: When will you know your program for next year? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: I don’t know. We are facing an economic crisis that is disrupting everyone. I can’t really see myself soliciting companies that are currently cutting jobs for sponsorship. It just seems indecent to me. In the meantime, I would rather focus on our core strength (endurance racing) and put my other ambitions on hold until conditions improve. It should only be temporary. I hope so for myself, and for the others. BIKE70.COM: Isn’t all this difficult to deal with, personally? CHRISTOPHE GUYOT: From the time I started, I have had to deal with some difficult years. Many tend to forget that because successes make people forget failures. And after a win, we think we’re invincible. But I always knew we had more failures than successes. I am not Valentino Rossi. I am just a hard-working, patient, determined racer who knows he will succeed again. We don’t have any choice but to succeed. In all areas. Working with youngsters, participating in the national championship, being involved as citizens, are all parts of our mission as essential values we want to communicate. And I think the path we have followed to this point shows exactly that.