Kenan Sofuoğlu (born 25 August 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish parliamentarian and former professional motorcycle racer. He holds a record five Supersport World Championship titles (2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016). Sofuoğlu also competed at the Superbike World Championship in 2008 and at the Moto2 World Championship in 2010 and 2011.
Sofuoğlu announced his retirement from racing in May 2018,Supersport legend Sofuoglu to retire after Imola www.motorsport.com 7 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018 and became an elected politician in June 2018. He made a brief comeback appearance at the Imola, Italy, World Championship event on 13 May where he qualified in third place but entered the pit lane immediately after the sighting lap, choosing to withdraw from the race.Sofuoglu pulls out of farewell Supersport race www.motorsport.com 7 May 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018
Sofuoğlu suffered injuries in a crash at Phillip Island, Australia, earlier in 2018, exacerbating his previous pelvis fracture from a crash during practice at Magny-Cours, France, on 30 September 2017, which initially appeared to have ended participation in the 2017 season.Magny-Cours WorldSBK: Sofuoglu confirms crash is season-ending Bike Sport News, 1 October 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017 After a period of only five weeks, he returned to participate in the last meeting at Qatar,Mahias on top, Sofuoglu set for second medical assessment before FP3 crash.net, 2 November 2017. Retrieved 3 November 2017 finishing the race in third place and totalling enough points to finish second in the championship.
Sofuoğlu also competed in Moto2 for the Technomag-CIP team, having made his debut at the end of and remained with the team for the season. He previously won the Supersport World Championship with Ten Kate Honda in and . 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.
As a five-time champion, Sofuoğlu is the most successful rider to have competed in the Supersport World Championship and holds many records in the class.Paddock Talk, 4 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2017
Career
Supersport & Superbike World Championship 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.
Sofuoğlu then signed with Ten Kate Honda for three more years. For 2008, he rode a third 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 three-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.
Moto2 World Championship 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. Sofuoğlu remained with the team in 2011, riding one of the team's Suters. His best finish was second place at Assen.
Injuries During training for the 2017 Supersport World Championship in early February, Sofuoğlu broke a finger bone. He had to undergo two operations. Just before the first round of the championship in Australia, he performed a two-day test, but was not ready to race because of pain when braking, and decided not to start. He flew back home to undergo another operation, and stated that he would miss the opening two rounds, but would be present again in Spain, the third round of the championship.
On 30 September, Sofuoğlu broke his pelvis in three places after a crash during the Superpole session of a championship race in France. The same day, he was flown to Istanbul, Turkey for medical care by air ambulance. His doctor stated that Sofuğlu could be discharged from the hospital in 5–6 weeks if everything went right. Sofuoğlu confirmed the recovery period as 12 weeks.Sofuoglu begins rehabilitation following crash in France worldsbk.com, 30 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017
After a period of only five weeks, Sofuoğlu returned to participate in the last meeting at Qatar, finishing the race in third place and totalling points for second place the championship.
Sofuoglu announced his retirement from racing on the build-up to the fifth round of the 2018 season at Imola after sustaining another injury at Phillip Island. This is in addition to a crash at Magny-Cours in the previous year, when he suffered a hip injury.
Career statistics
2004 - 3rd, Superstock European Championship, Yamaha YZF-R1 2005 - 2nd, FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, Yamaha YZF-R1
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 SPA16 AUS JPN ITA GERRet GBR SMR GBR NED ITA FRARet NC 0 2006 Honda QAT3 AUSRet SPARet ITA5 EUR20 SMR8 CZE3 GBR3 NED1 GER1 ITA2 FRA2 3rd 157 2007 Honda QAT1 AUS2 EUR1 SPA1 NED1 ITA1 GBRRet SMR3 CZE1 GBR2 GER2 ITA1 FRA1 1st 276 2008 Honda QAT AUS SPA NED ITA GER SMR CZE GBR EUR ITA FRA POR1 19th 25 2009 Honda AUS1 QAT4 SPA3 NED5 ITA9 RSA5 USA1 SMRRet GBR4 CZE9 GERRet ITA1 FRA3 POR2 3rd 189 2010 Honda AUS3 POR1 SPA2 NED3 ITA2 RSA2 USA1 SMR3 CZE1 GBR2 GER2 ITA2 FRA2 1st 263 2012 Kawasaki AUS1 ITADSQ NED2 ITA3 EUR2 SMR1 SPA5 CZE2 GBR5 RUS1 GER1 POR2 FRA4 1st 218 2013 Kawasaki AUS1 SPARet NED2 ITARet GBR2 POR3 ITA1 RUSC GBR1 GERRet TUR1 FRA1 SPA2 2nd 201 2014 Kawasaki AUSRet SPA1 NEDRet ITARet GBR4 MAL3 SMR4 POR3 SPA13 FRARet QAT8 8th 94 2015 Kawasaki AUS6 THA2 SPA1 NED1 ITA1 GBR1 POR2 SMR11 MAL4 SPA1 FRA2 QAT2 1st 233 2016 Kawasaki AUSRet THA2 SPA1 NED3 ITA1 MAL6 GBR1 ITA1 GER1 FRARet SPA1 QAT2 1st 216 2017 Kawasaki AUS THA SPARet NED1 ITA1 GBR1 ITA1 GER2 POR1 FRADNS SPA QAT3 2nd 161 2018 Kawasaki AUS13 THA SPA NED ITARet GBR CZE ITA POR FRA ARG QAT 31st 3 Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts 2021 Kawasaki SPA SPA POR POR ITA ITA NED NED CZE CZE SPA SPA FRA FRA SPA SPA SPA SPA POR POR ARG ARG INA INA NC 0
Superstock European 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 Pos Pts 2004 Yamaha VAL6 SMR15 MNZ7 OSC3 SIL16 BRA3 NED3 IMO2 MAG3 3rd 104
FIM Superstock 1000 Cup 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 Pos Pts 2005 Yamaha VAL1 MNZ1 SIL3 SMR BRN2 BRA1 NED3 LAU6 IMORet MAG2 2nd 157
Superbike World Championship
By season SeasonMotorcycleTeamNumberRaceWinPodiumPoleFLapPtsPlcdWCh Honda CBR1000RR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda Jr. 54 23 0 0 0 0 54 18th 0 Total 23 0 0 0 0 54 0
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 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 QAT12 QAT10 AUS14 AUS11 ESP12 ESP15 NED12 NED19 ITADNS ITADNS USA12 USA14 GERRet GER21 SMR18 SMRRet CZE10 CZE10 GBR13 GBR17 EURRet EURDNS ITARet ITARet FRA9 FRA19 POR POR 18th 54
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season SeasonClassMotorcycleTypeTeamNumberRacesWinPodiumPolePtsPlcd 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 ClassSeasons1st GP1st PodRaceWinPodiumsPoleFLapPtsWChmp Moto2 2010–2011 2010 Portugal 2011 Netherlands 16 0 1 0 0 70 0 Total2010–2011 16 0 1 0 0 70 0
Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) 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 INP RSM ARA JPN MAL AUS POR5 VALRet 29th 11 2011 Moto2 Suter QAT18 SPA16 PORRet FRA26 CATRet GBR8 NED2 ITA10 GER11 CZE10 INPDNS RSM ARA JPN19 AUS6 MAL12 VAL20 17th 59
Politics Sofuoğlu was elected in June 2018 as a Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentarian for the Sakarya Province.Colorful figures from athletes to actors win seats in Parliament Daily Sabah, June 26, 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2018
On 4 July 2018, the Turkish parliament's opening day for the 2018–2019 session, Sofuoğlu arrived driving a Lamborghini Aventador, which he parked in a space reserved for an opposition deputy. This drew criticism about the "luxury car" but Sofuoğlu—who also owns two Mercedes SUVs, a Ferrari, and a Fiat 124—responded that the critics have taken aim at him because of his party affiliation and the car was only an excuse. Sofuoğlu has stated he gives his elected deputy's salary to charity.
Personal life Sofuoğlu is the third child of İrfan Basri Sofuoğlu and his wife Nurhayat. 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.Ntvmsnbc.com related news
Sofuoğlu speaks German, French, English and Turkish.KENAN SOFUOGLU Sofuoğlu is a practising Muslim, and observes daytime fasting during 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 3 September 2014, Sofuoğlu married Julia Looman, after a two-year engagement. After the wedding ceremony in his hometown Sakarya, the couple flew to Barcelona, Spain.
On 14 March 2015, Sofuoğlu became the father of a son named Hamza, who was born in the Netherlands. On 2 May 2015, the infant suffered a cerebral hemorrhage during a family holiday in Alanya. He was transferred to Istanbul, and underwent surgery. Hamza died on 25 July 2015, aged four months, and was buried in the family grave at Akyazı, Sakarya.
Since then, the couple has welcomed four more children into the world. Mahir Sofuoğlu, born 19 April 2016, Zayn Sofuoğlu, born 11 April 2019, Lila Sofuoğlu, born 26 May 2021, and Rayen Sofuoğlu, born in 2023.
See also Sofuoğlu family
References
External links