Supersport World Champion in 2007, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016, the Turkish driver alone has as many world titles as all our French drivers combined, that is to say Stéphane Chambon in 1999, Fabien Foret in 2002 , Sébastien Charpentier in 2005 and 2006, and more recently Lucas Mahias in 2017.
But it is feared that the series ends there for the 33-year-old native of Adapazari, and that he hangs up his leathers due to a serious and old pelvic injury which does not heal. The prolonged pelvic fracture that struck him in October 2017 during a Superpole session in Magny-Cours never completely healed.
Then this year the Turk crashed during the season opener at Phillip Island due to a tire problem at 257 km/h (data recorded). The already damaged left leg as well as the left arm and also the pelvis were affected again.
“If I were to hit hard the same already damaged area of the body, the consequences would be even worse, even for my future life, my bones have not healed perfectly » expressed Kenan in Gpone.com.
“I spoke with Kawasaki and the team Puccetti how we should handle the current situation » declared the winner of 43 races to speedweek.
“If I have to miss the races in Aragón and Assen, my delay in the World Championship will be too great, and then I will have to think about the possibility of continuing. »
Sofuoglu has already announced his retirement at the end of the 2018 season to Turkish media. But it could happen much sooner.
“The latest accidents have been difficult to manage, particularly in 2017 at Magny-Cours and Phillip Island », admitted the Turk. “ Maybe I'll stop running, but I haven't decided yet, I'll go home first and talk to everyone, but maybe there will already be a clear decision before Aragon. »
In 125 races in Supersport, Sofuoglu has won 43 victories and reached 85 podiums.
In Superbike, he completed a season in 2008, and he participated in two Moto2 world championships in 2010 and 2011 on a Suter from the Technomag-CIP team, with the best result being second place at Assen in 2011 behind Marc Marquez and ahead of Bradley Smith.
Photos © Kawasaki
