Kenan Sofuoglu said that only victory will satisfy him in this weekend’s (9-11 July) ninth-round World Supersport championship race at Brno in the Czech Republic.
The Turkish ace, whom has finished all eight of this season’s races on the podium, with two visits to the top step, currently lies in second place in the current championship standings after his third place finish in the last outing at Misano in Italy.
Kenan Sofuoglu in action at Misano
“I was very happy to have the test at Imola last week because I was so disappointed after the race at Misano. It was difficult starting from the second row but also I made too many mistakes trying to pass Lascorz and catch Laverty. So it was good to spend some time with the team testing the new electronics and getting back to the race pace of last year, even though it was very hot,” said Sofuoglu.
The 25-year-old has acknowledged that he will need to dig deep in the remaining five rounds of the 2010 championship if he is to fulfil his ambition of reclaiming the World Supersport crown that he secured in 2007.
“Brno is a circuit that I like very much and, although I want to forget last year’s race, I have won there in the past. I have to win again this weekend,” he said.
Sofuoglu’s Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate, Michele Pirro, is hoping to mark his 24th birthday, which he celebrated last Monday (5 July), with more success than in his most recent race. The Italian crashed out on lap five of the Misano encounter after starting from pole position.
“I celebrated my birthday in Cesena where I got some physiotherapy after the bruising that I got in Misano. Luckily it won’t stop me from doing my best at Brno and we had a good test at Imola last week when we tried lots of things and worked on the electronics some more. It was very useful also for me to spend some time on the track because the Italian championship doesn’t go to Imola and it was only my second time there,” said Pirro.
However, Pirro is determined to make up for that, and for the technical problem that prevented him from finishing last year’s race with his previous team after qualifying on the second row of the grid.
“I am looking forward to going back to Brno because I like this circuit very much and enjoyed the practices last year when I qualified eighth. Unfortunately my bike broke after one lap so I did not enjoy the race so much. I hope to do better this year and get a good result for my team who have worked so hard in the last races and during the test last week. I would like to give them a nice birthday present from me,” said Pirro.
Team-manager Ronald ten Kate said their Imola test was to lay the foundation for teh second half of the season.
“We used the Imola test last week to do a lot of fine-tuning and back-to-back testing of various parts and settings. We are happy that the package as a whole is constantly improving but even now there are some areas where we are constantly working to make things even better. It’s important that we are ready for the latter part of the season which we believe will be even harder than the first part,” he said.
