Kawasaki’s Kenan SofuogluThree-time World Supersport Champion Kenan Sofuoglu arrived in Imola under horrible circumstances. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing ZX-6R pilot’s seven-week-old son Hamza suffered from a sudden illness, and was fighting to survive.Ahead of round five of 2015 World Supersport at Imola, Sofuoglu said “when I saw my son was fighting so hard to survive, I though I should not give up my job.”
And he did not give up; he just missed qualifying on pole by a mere 0.037 of a second, but followed this up with a win after yet another intense battle with rival and pole-sitter Jules Cluzel on the MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3.Sofuoglu battled for much of the 17-lap race, and the Turkish rider’s victory was decided on the final lap. After Cluzel made a small mistake, the Turkish rider Sofuoglu beat him to the checkered flag by 0.883 of a second.This was Sofuoglu’s 30th WSS victory, and his third straight of 2015 WSS.“(Sunday) the race was not easy. I was not prepared in my conditioning and last week I did not sleep well. On the other side of the story I was strong because I know how difficult it was to come here,” Sofuoglu says.“For that reason, inside me, I came here for a win. I think this race was very hard because Cluzel was strong, more than I expected, but I told myself if I was here I was here to win. I was not going to accept second, not today. There will be days when I have to but not today. I am happy to have taken 25 points and now I go straight back to Turkey.”Taking the final podium position was Cluzel’s teammate Lorenzo Zannetti, who overhauled America’s PJ Jacobsen (Kawasaki Intermoto Ponyexpres) and Marco Faccanni (San Carlo Puccetti Racing). Jacobsen would finish fourth, and Faccanni fifth.CORE Motorsport Thailand’s Ratthapark Wilairot beat CIA Landlords Insurance Honda’s Gino Rea to the line to take sixth, the two locked together for the race duration. Rounding out the top 10 were Riccardo Russo (CIA Landlords Insurance Honda), Russo’s teammate Martin Cardenas and Roberto Rolfo (Lorini Honda).Kyle Smith (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) crashed out of contention on lap 3, he was able to re-join to claim the final point in 15th.Sofuoglu retains the World Supersport championship lead with 105 points, 53 ahead of Jacobsen. In third, 56 behind, is Cluzel.The 2015 World Superbike Championship now breaks for a week before heading to Donington Park in the UK for round six of 13.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
