Sylvain Guintoli feels his racing sharpness has returned in full force since his mid-season injury having enjoyed a productive race weekend and test at Jerez ahead of a final bow with Pata Yamaha.

The 2014 World Superbike champion achieved his best results of the year at Jerez since the season opener at Phillip Island with sixth and fifth place finishes in the two races for Pata Yamaha.

The French rider backed up his form with a fruitful day of testing at the Spanish track immediately after the race weekend notching up 71 laps with a best time of 1m 41.627s.

Guintoli, along with team-mate Alex Lowes, worked through 2017 development parts on the Yamaha R1 including chassis components, software updates and engine developments.

Despite being shown the exit at Pata Yamaha as Michael van der Mark comes in to replace the French rider for 2017 Guintoli has been progressing steadily after returning from a broken ankle sustained in a heavy crash at Imola in May, outperforming team-mate Lowes in five of the six races since his comeback.

Since returning to competitive action at Lausitzring last month, Guintoli feels he is finally rediscovered his edge and rhythm after a lengthy period out and is relishing the final round of the year at Qatar.

"It's been a good day testing for us here at Jerez after a good weekend of racing," Guintoli said. "This weekend I have felt like my feeling with the bike has really sunk in and come back to me - I have really enjoyed my riding and I've felt like I was riding better.

"The test was good, we did about 70 laps and it was efficient work. We've worked hard to be ready for Qatar and also to carry on the development in general so it was a very positive day."

Guintoli is currently being strongly linked to a return to the British Superbike paddock on Yamaha machinery with all factory options at World Superbikes already occupied for next season.