Kenan Sofuoglu seeks to extend lead

Kenan Sofuoglu travels to the United Kingdom this weekend (30 July-1 August) for round 10 of the 2010 World Supersport championship at Silverstone, seeking to build on his current 15-point advantage over Spain’s Joan Lascorz.

Sofuoglu has battled intensely with Lascorz and Irishman, Eugene Laverty, throughout the season and a dramatic win last time out – his third of the season – at Brno in the Czech Republic, where Laverty retired with engine problems, gave the Hannspree Ten Kate Honda ace his slender points cushion.



The 25-year-old from Turkey raced against doctors’ advice at Brno, battling against the pain of a badly gashed left arm. However, with his injury almost healed, Sofuoglu is looking forward to the challenge of a new circuit layout at Silverstone this weekend.



Sofuoglu’s regular team-mate, Michele Pirro, sustained facial bruising and a dislocated wrist in a Brno crash and the Italian has been forced to sit out this weekend, temporarily lending his Honda CBR600RR to South African Ronan Quarmby.

Quarmby, 19, contested the Kyalami round near Johannesburg as a wildcard rider on Ten Kate machinery earlier in the season but was forced to withdraw after the first day when medical investigations following a qualifying crash revealed a rare bone condition. Now fully recovered, the youngster is relishing the prospect of racing again in the United Kingdom, having competed in the Virgin R6 Cup in 2007.



Kenan Sofuoglu

:
Since the really tough Brno weekend I have been relaxing at home to give my arm a chance to heal. It’s almost ready for Silverstone, where I really want to win again and continue the push over the last four races of the season. The circuit is not a favourite of mine and in the really bad conditions three years ago, I crashed at the first corner. The new circuit layout looked really nice when I watched the MotoGP race and it looks as though it will suit the CBR600RR, so I will try to get the maximum points that I can. I know my team will work as hard as they can to give me the best bike possible to do the job and I will try to reward them with the best result possible. We will see how it goes at the weekend, but I am really looking forward to it.



Ronan Quarmby:
Since coming over from South Africa I have managed to spend a few days with the Ten Kate team in Holland and spent a really nice weekend with Gerrit and Ronald and their families. They have made me feel really welcome and looking round the workshop last week just blew my mind! I’ve been to Silverstone before when I was racing in the UK, but our race was cancelled because of the weather. I’ve been watching the MotoGP and Moto2 races online and the new layout looks awesome. Now I can’t wait to get going and I think I can do well – I’m just not sure yet how well. We’ll know more after practice and qualifying on Friday!



Ronald ten Kate – team manager:
We know that Eugene Laverty and his team have been testing at Silverstone, which will give them quite an advantage. Our first job will be to chip away at that advantage over the weekend. We know that Kenan is unlikely to be happy to settle for second or third place on Sunday, so there is a big challenge for the whole team to get things right as quickly as possible. Michele is recovering well from his crash at Brno and we’ll all miss him this weekend, but we’ll be hoping for a solid performance and result from Ronan, who takes his place for this race. It’s always nice to come to the UK round of World Superbikes since the crowd there is very passionate about their racing. Let’s hope we get something of the British summer this time round!