The Turkish rider did not place in the penultimate race in Portugal on Sept. 23, when his closest rival, Jules Cluzel, won top honors. However, even before the results of the final race in Cluzel’s home country of France on Oct. 7, Sofuoğlu was declared champion, 218 points over the French rider’s 185.
His result in the Portugal race was all part of the plan. “The aim was not to win the race in Portugal,” the rider explained, noting that his strategy was simply to gather points. “If I had lost the advantage, then the final race would have been too stressful. Stress can cause mistakes,” he noted.
“It makes me happy to finish such a long championship,” Kenan told the press on Tuesday. “Also, this is my third title. There has never been anyone with three titles in Supersport before me. There are two athletes who took the championship twice. I become the champion three times and the record is now with me,” he explained.
The season went downhill for Sofuoğlu very early on. “I won my first race in Austria,” Kenan recalled, adding: “I injured my knee in a test race before heading to the second race. We entered a bad period and missed the second race. I went out to the race injured. I went off the track on a turn and was disqualified.”
His fighting spirit and past experiences helped keep him going, despite the huge barriers before him. “I cannot say this [year] was the hardest,” the rider recalled. “But I experienced more difficulties this year than in others.”
“As in previous years, my biggest advantage this season was my team,” said the Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini rider. “The only problem was my injuries, and I managed to overcome those,” he added, explaining that there were times he went out to the track with a walking stick.
Next step
Kenan assured the press on Tuesday that he was not planning on giving up anytime soon, despite — or perhaps thanks to — the lows he has seen. “This is my 11th season in Europe,” the 28 year old explained. “If I did not have bad seasons I would have left the race earlier. I still have six or seven years of this sport left in me,” he added, noting that he could easily have dropped the sport when he lost his older brothers in 2002 and 2008, or his father after that.
Instead, Sofuoğlu has big plans for the future, both for himself and for the sport in Turkey. Now that he has been crowned Supersport champion three times, he has his sights set on Grand Prix racing, which is the most prestigious road racing championship and is divided into three cc classes– MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.
“One more year of Supersport, then after that I have other plans,” Kenan noted. “I may do MotoGP,” he highlighted at the press conference, explaining that whether or not he races in MotoGP is not his choice or that of the Turkish Motorcycle Federation (TMF).
According to Sofuoğlu, there could be many Turkish riders in such races, if only Turkish firms would sponsor them. A $10 million sponsorship is simply more than the TMF can handle.
The TMF is a very young federation. It was created in 2003, after Kenan began to race internationally, to help support and promote the sport in Turkey.
“When I started there was no federation. It was founded later and everything began to change,” Sofuoğlu recalls. “There are two things I trust in Turkey. One is the federation and the other is the sponsor on the hat I’m wearing,” he added in reference to Red Bull.
Future and federation
With Sofuoğlu’s help, the TMF has been hard at work since its foundation to build infrastructure and help young riders. In fact, the federation would not exist without the Turkish rider. “We created the federation in his honor,” TMF Chairman Bekir Yunus Uçar said at the press conference.
The federation has set plenty of goals for the future. “First on our agenda is to promote the sport,” Uçar stated on Tuesday. “We are planning to create a system for 10 year olds to race motorcycles,” he added. They are also planning to sponsor young riders to leave the country for competitions.
Where does Sofuoğlu fit into all of this? According to Sofuoğlu, he and one lucky young rider are attending a race in Europe this weekend. “This is a race for young athletes. I will bring one of our riders,” Sofuoğlu stated. “We have to bring our young people to Europe. The federation is doing great things and we have athletes ready. We found a place for Harun Çabuk. We will put him in a race. If he does as well as we hope, then he will compete in the Netherlands next year,” he said.
Beyond being an incredible inspiration, he is actively involved in all aspects of the sport in his home country. He even used his winnings to have a track built in his home province of Konya.
“He must be an example to all athletes. I have seen very few who spend what they earn for the good of the sport,” the TMF head said in praise of Sofuoğlu. “He thinks his track must be managed professionally. We will help make sure that all of our riders are able to use it for free and eliminate any problems,” Uçar added.
On his end, Sofuoğlu cannot seem to thank the TMF enough. “If you look at the current state of motorcycle racing [in Turkey], the future looks bright. This is because of the federation’s hard work. The federation is doing the sponsors’ job. They bought motorcycles for all of the athletes. They are putting riders in European races,” he stated, adding, “Of course these are not very big races, but finally we have started to go to Europe.”
(Today’s Zaman)
