Kenan Sofuoğlu
Kenan Sofuoğlu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sofuoğlu in 2007. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Turkish | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born |
Kuzuluk, Akyazı, Sakarya Province, Turkey | August 25, 1984||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bike number | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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: five, in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016
Sofuoğlu also 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 at the Portuguese Grand Prix, in the penultimate race.[2]
Sofuoglu is currently the most successful rider to have ever competed in the Supersport World Championship. Now a five-time champion, he was previously the only rider to have won three times, and he holds most of the career and track records in the class. [3]
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. Subsequently, Sofuoğlu entered the Supersport World Championship full-time in 2006 after three races in 2003. Sofuoğlu dominated the 2007 season, winning five of the first eight races, and broke the record for 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.[4]
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 but he opted to join the Indian Mahi Team owned by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.[5]
Moto2
Towards the end of the 2010 season Sofuoğlu appeared in Moto2 at the Portuguese Grand Prix, with the Technomag-CIP team, replacing Shoya Tomizawa, who had died in an incident at Misano. Sofuoğlu 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.[6] Sofuoğlu remained with the team in 2011, riding one of the team's Suters.[1]
Career statistics
Supersport World Championship
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | Yamaha | SPA 16 |
AUS | JPN | ITA | GER Ret |
GBR | SMR | GBR | NED | ITA | FRA Ret |
NC | 0 | |||
2006 | Honda | QAT 3 |
AUS Ret |
SPA Ret |
ITA 5 |
EUR 20 |
SMR 8 |
CZE 3 |
GBR 3 |
NED 1 |
GER 1 |
ITA 2 |
FRA 2 |
3rd | 157 | ||
2007 | Honda | QAT 1 |
AUS 2 |
EUR 1 |
SPA 1 |
NED 1 |
ITA 1 |
GBR Ret |
SMR 3 |
CZE 1 |
GBR 2 |
GER 2 |
ITA 1 |
FRA 1 |
1st | 276 | |
2008 | Honda | QAT | AUS | SPA | NED | ITA | GER | SMR | CZE | GBR | EUR | ITA | FRA | POR 1 |
19th | 25 | |
2009 | Honda | AUS 1 |
QAT 4 |
SPA 3 |
NED 5 |
ITA 9 |
RSA 5 |
USA 1 |
SMR Ret |
GBR 4 |
CZE 9 |
GER Ret |
ITA 1 |
FRA 3 |
POR 2 |
3rd | 189 |
2010 | Honda | AUS 3 |
POR 1 |
SPA 2 |
NED 3 |
ITA 2 |
RSA 2 |
USA 1 |
SMR 3 |
CZE 1 |
GBR 2 |
GER 2 |
ITA 2 |
FRA 2 |
1st | 263 | |
2012 | Kawasaki | AUS 1 |
ITA DSQ |
NED 2 |
ITA 3 |
EUR 2 |
SMR 1 |
SPA 5 |
CZE 2 |
GBR 5 |
RUS 1 |
GER 1 |
POR 2 |
FRA 4 |
1st | 218 | |
2013 | Kawasaki | AUS 1 |
SPA Ret |
NED 2 |
ITA Ret |
GBR 2 |
POR 3 |
ITA 1 |
RUS C |
GBR 1 |
GER Ret |
TUR 1 |
FRA 1 |
SPA 2 |
2nd | 201 | |
2014 | Kawasaki | AUS Ret |
SPA 1 |
NED Ret |
ITA Ret |
GBR 4 |
MAL 3 |
SMR 4 |
POR 3 |
SPA 13 |
FRA Ret |
QAT 8 |
8th | 94 | |||
2015 | Kawasaki | AUS 6 |
THA 2 |
SPA 1 |
NED 1 |
ITA 1 |
GBR 1 |
POR 2 |
SMR 11 |
MAL 4 |
SPA 1 |
FRA 2 |
QAT 2 |
1st | 233 | ||
2016 | Kawasaki | AUS Ret |
THA 2 |
SPA 1 |
NED 3 |
ITA 1 |
MAL 6 |
GBR 1 |
ITA 1 |
GER 1 |
FRA Ret |
SPA 1 |
QAT | 1st | 196* |
* Season still in progress.
Superbike World Championship
By season
Season | Moto | Team | Number | Race | Win | Pod | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd | WCh |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2008 | Honda CBR1000RR | Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. | 54 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 18th | |
Total | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 0 |
Races by year
(key)
Year | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos. | Pts | ||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
2008 | Honda | QAT 12 |
QAT 10 |
AUS 14 |
AUS 11 |
ESP 12 |
ESP 15 |
NED 12 |
NED 19 |
ITA | ITA | USA 12 |
USA 14 |
GER Ret |
GER 21 |
SMR 18 |
SMR Ret |
CZE 10 |
CZE 10 |
GBR 13 |
GBR 17 |
EUR Ret |
EUR DNS |
ITA Ret |
ITA Ret |
FRA 9 |
FRA 19 |
POR | POR | 18th | 54 |
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By Seasons
Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Number | Type | Races | Win | Podiums | Pole | Pts | Position |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Moto2 | Suter | Suter MMX | TechnoMag-CIP | 54 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 29th |
2011 | Moto2 | Suter | Suter MMXI | TechnoMag-CIP | 54 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 59 | 17th |
Total | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 70 |
By class
Class | Seas | 1st GP | 1st Pod | 1st Win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Moto2 | 2010– | 2010 Portugal | 2011 Netherlands | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 0 | |
Total | 2010– | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 0 |
Races by year
(key)
Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Pos. | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | Moto2 | Suter | QAT | SPA | FRA | ITA | GBR | NED | CAT | GER | CZE | IND | RSM | ARA | JPN | MAL | AUS | POR 5 |
VAL Ret |
29th | 11 |
2011 | Moto2 | Suter | QAT 18 |
SPA 16 |
POR Ret |
FRA 26 |
CAT Ret |
GBR 8 |
NED 2 |
ITA 10 |
GER 11 |
CZE 10 |
IND DNS |
RSM | ARA | JPN 19 |
AUS 6 |
MAL 12 |
VAL 20 |
17th | 59 |
Personal life
Sofuoğlu is the third child of İrfan Basri Sofuoğlu and his wife Nurhayat.[7] He has one sister and two brothers. His father is a motorcycle repairman with his own garage. Two of Sofuoğlu's brothers, who were also local motorcycle racers, have died in accidents. Sofuoğlu's eldest brother Bahattin, himself a domestic Turkish motorcycling champion, died in a traffic accident in 2002. His next eldest brother Sinan died during a race training incident at the İzmit Körfez Circuit in May 2008.[8]
Sofuoğlu speaks German, French and English in addition to Turkish.[9] 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.
On September 3, 2014, he married Julia Looman, after a two-year engagement. After the wedding ceremony in his hometown Sakarya, the couple flew to Barcelona, Spain.[10]
On March 14, 2015, Kenan Sofuoğlu became father of a son named Hamza, who was born in the Netherlands. On May 2, 2015 the infant suffered a brain bleed during a family holiday in Alanya. He was transferred to Istanbul, and underwent surgery.[11] Hamza died on July 25, 2015, aged four months, and was buried in the family grave at Akyazı, Sakarya..[12]
See also
References
- 1 2 "Kenan Sofuoglu chooses Technomag for 2011". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ↑ "Turkish rider Sofuoğlu crowned 2012 champ". Sundaays Zaman. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
- ↑ Template:PaddockTalk Perspective
- ↑ "Turkish Press Review". World Bulletin. CM Bilişim & Capitol Medya. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ↑ "Dhoni's humility touching: Sofuoglu". The times of India. 30 March 2013.
- ↑ Beer, Matt (31 October 2010). "Bradl wins, Sofuoglu stars in Moto2". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
- ↑ Zabcı, Faruk (2010-10-04). "Kenan'dan büyük başarı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ↑ Ntvmsnbc.com related news(Turkish)
- ↑ KENAN SOFUOGLU
- ↑ "Kenan Sofuoğlu ve Julia Looman evlendi (3 Eylül 2014)". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
- ↑ "Kenan Sofuoğlu evlat üzüntüsüyle İtalya'ya gitti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
- ↑ "Kenan Sofuoğlu'nun oğlu Hamza toprağa verildi". NTV Turkey (in Turkish). 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
Sporting positions | ||
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Preceded by Sébastien Charpentier |
World Supersport Champion 2007 |
Succeeded by Andrew Pitt |
Preceded by Cal Crutchlow |
World Supersport Champion 2010 |
Succeeded by Chaz Davies |
Preceded by Chaz Davies |
World Supersport Champion 2012 |
Succeeded by Sam Lowes |
Preceded by Michael van der Mark |
World Supersport Champion 2015, 2016 |
Succeeded by incumbent |