Kenan Sofuoğlu

Kenan Sofuoğlu (born 25 August 1984 in Kuzuluk, Akyazı) is a Turkish parliamentarian and former professional motorcycle racer.

[2] 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.

[7] As a five-time champion, Sofuoglu is the most successful rider to have competed in the Supersport World Championship and holds many records in the class.

He clinched the championship with three races to go, by finishing second at Brands Hatch, becoming Turkey's first major motorsport world champion.

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 3-way championship battle with Laverty and Motocard Kawasaki's Joan Lascorz.

[10] 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.

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.

[12] On 30 September Sofuoğlu broke his pelvis in three places after a crash during the Superpole session of a championship race in France.

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.

[2] 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.

Sofuoğlu's eldest brother Bahattin, himself a domestic Turkish motorcycling champion, died in a traffic accident in 2002.