Kenan Sofuoğlu

Kenan Sofuoğlu
Sofuoğlu in 2007.
Nationality	Turkish
Born	(1984-08-25) August 25, 1984 Kuzuluk, Akyazı, Sakarya Province, Turkey
Current team	Kawasaki Mahi Racing Team India
Bike number	54
Motorcycle racing career statistics Moto2 World Championship Active years 2010–2011 Manufacturers Suter-Honda Championships 0 2011 Championship position 17th (59 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 16 0 1 0 0 70 Superbike World Championship Active years 2008 Manufacturers Honda Championships 0 2008 Championship position 18th (54 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 23 0 0 0 0 54 Supersport World Championship Active years 2003, 2006–2010, 2012– Manufacturers Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki Championships 3 (2007, 2010, 2012) 2012 Championship position 1st (263 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 67 24 54 15 18 951

Kenan Sofuoğlu (born August 25, 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish professional motorcycle racer, who has won the highest number of Supersport World Championship titles: three, in 2007, 2010 and 2012.

He competed in Moto2 for the Technomag-CIP team, having made his debut at the end of 2010 and remained with the team for the 2011 season.^[1] He previously won the Supersport World Championship for the Ten Kate Honda in 2007 and 2010, and he is the championship's all-time leading race winner, having won 17 races. He raced in the World Superbike Championship for Ten Kate in 2008, but with limited success.

Racing for Kawasaki in 2012, Sofuoğlu claimed his third Supersport World Championship after the Portuguese Grand Prix, one race before the last race.^[2]

Career

Supersport and Superbikes

After winning Class B of the Turkish Supersport Championship in 2000 and the German Yamaha R6 Cup in 2002, Sofuoğlu moved into the European Superstock Championship finishing second and third in two seasons. After this, Sofuoğlu moved into the Supersport World Championship full-time in 2006 after three races in 2003. Sofuoğlu dominated the 2007 Supersport World Championship season, winning five of the first eight races, and broke the record for taking the most wins in one season. These included a two-lap charge from sixth to first at Monza, and a win on his first ever visit to Donington Park, in the wet. He also won at Losail, Spain and Assen, Netherlands. He clinched the championship with three races to go, by finishing second at Brands Hatch, becoming Turkey's first major motorsport world champion.^[3]

Sofuoğlu then signed with Ten Kate Honda for three more years. For 2008 he rode a 3rd Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR in World Superbikes, as part of a junior team. He was not successful, and returned to Supersport with the team for 2009. This time the team struggled to match Cal Crutchlow's Yamaha and the Parkalgar Honda of Eugene Laverty, leaving Sofuoğlu to fight for third in the standings. He opened 2010 with a succession of podium finishes, leaving him in a 3-way championship battle with Laverty and Motocard Kawasaki's Joan Lascorz. He eventually claimed the title, finishing on the podium in every race

For 2013, as the world champion, Sofuoğlu had the option of riding for the Italian Pedercini Team or the Indian Mahi Team owned by Mahendra Singh Dhoni for which the latter was chosen.^[4]

Moto2

Sofuoğlu also appeared in Moto2 at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with the Technomag-CIP team replacing Shoya Tomizawa, who was killed at Misano. He was fourth fastest in practice, which put him on the front row after qualifying was rained out. The race marked his first ever dry laps on the bike, but he led for the majority of the race before finishing the race in fifth despite having to try to adjust the handlebars of the bike while racing.^[5] Sofuoğlu will remain with the team in 2011, riding one of the team's Suters.^[1]

Career statistics

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

• Championship hasn't finished

Superbike World Championship

By season

Races by year

(key)

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By Seasons

By class

Races by year

(key)

Personal life

Sofuoğlu was born as the third child to İrfan Basri Sofuoğlu and his wife Nurhayat.^[6] He has one sister and two brothers. His father is a motorcycle repairman at his own garage. Two of Sofuoğlu's brothers, who were also local race drivers, have died in accidents. Sofuoğlu's eldest brother Bahattin was a Turkish motorcycling champion, who died in a traffic crash in 2002. His elder brother Sinan died during a race training at the İzmit Körfez Circuit in May 2008.^[7]

He speaks German, French and English in addition to Turkish.^[8] Sofuoğlu is a practising Muslim, who observes the daytime fasting of Ramadan. His bike number 54 stems from his home town's (Sakarya Province in Turkey) license plate number. He has noted that his riding style uses too much upper-body effort, causing him to tire on the bike.

See also

• Sofuoğlu family

References