In the World Supersport Championship, one name has dominated the results list for the past decade: Kenan Sofuoğlu. This is because the Turkish rider has posted five championship titles since he entered the class, along with 43 race wins in the WorldSSP class.
And now, the Kawasaki rider is ready to hang up his spurs, announcing that he will retire from motorcycle racing, after the WorldSBK paddock races in Imola this coming weekend.
Never fully recovering from a crash he sustained at Phillip Island during the 2015 season, Sofuoğlu broke his hip during a crash at Magny-Cours last season, and as a result the 33-year-old narrowly missed out on his sixth WorldSSP title.
Sofuoğlu has talked many times about his retirement from racing, and now with his family, he decided it was time to move on from racing motorcycles.
Going forward, Sofuoğlu will focus on his riding school, where he has been working to develop local Turkish racing talent. He will also remain with the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team, helping its riders in the WorldSBK paddock.
“As how the President wishes I am going to retire from racing this weekend,” said Sofuoğlu. “I will celebrate my 20 years of racing anniversary this weekend! Last couple of months I had a few injures which made my family very afraid, also our President.”
“We decide to retire from racing earlier then what I was thinking. I can’t say I am sad because I have already a few Turkish riders which I trained to race and carry our flag. Twenty years ago I started my racing career with a goal to race in the world championships.”
“We won five times the world title. I am very thankful for that. Many people supported me while winning these titles I want to thank everyone for that. For Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Team and for my fans I will be last time on the track on 12-13 May in Italy.”
Fans of the Turk are using the #ThankYouKenan hashtag on social media to send their goodbyes and well-wishes to Kenan Sofuoğlu.
Source: Kawasaki Racing
