Kenan Sofuoğlu

Kenan Sofuoğlu

Sofuoğlu in 2007.
Nationality Turkey Turkish
Born (1984-08-25) August 25, 1984
Kuzuluk, Akyazı, Sakarya Province, Turkey
Current team Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
Bike number 1
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Moto2 World Championship
Active years20102011
ManufacturersSuter-Honda
Championships0
2011 championship position17th (59 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
16 0 1 0 0 70
Superbike World Championship
Active years2008
ManufacturersHonda
Championships0
2008 championship position18th (54 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
23 0 0 0 0 54
Supersport World Championship
Active years2003, 20062010, 2012
ManufacturersYamaha, Honda, Kawasaki
Championships5 (2007, 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016)
2015 championship position1st (233 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
113 37 76 27 27 1,802

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. 1 2 "Kenan Sofuoglu chooses Technomag for 2011". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 November 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  2. "Turkish rider Sofuoğlu crowned 2012 champ". Sundaays Zaman. Retrieved 2012-09-23.
  3. Template:PaddockTalk Perspective
  4. "Turkish Press Review". World Bulletin. CM Bilişim & Capitol Medya. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  5. "Dhoni's humility touching: Sofuoglu". The times of India. 30 March 2013.
  6. Beer, Matt (31 October 2010). "Bradl wins, Sofuoglu stars in Moto2". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  7. Zabcı, Faruk (2010-10-04). "Kenan'dan büyük başarı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  8. Ntvmsnbc.com related news(Turkish)
  9. KENAN SOFUOGLU
  10. "Kenan Sofuoğlu ve Julia Looman evlendi (3 Eylül 2014)". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2014-09-04. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  11. "Kenan Sofuoğlu evlat üzüntüsüyle İtalya'ya gitti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  12. "Kenan Sofuoğlu'nun oğlu Hamza toprağa verildi". NTV Turkey (in Turkish). 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
Sporting positions
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
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