Injury rules Sofuoglu out of Thailand round

Five-time World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu has been ruled out of the Thailand round this weekend due to an ongoing injury battle and will be replaced by Malaysian rider Azlan Shah at Puccetti Kawasaki.

Sofuoglu sustained a nasty off in his FP3 crash at the 2018 season opener in Australia and despite his injury the Turkish rider battled on to finish in 13^th place at Phillip Island.

Despite battling to be fit in time for the second round in Buriram, the Turkish rider has opted to miss this weekend in order to fully recover from his leg injury suffered in Australia which has also triggered a reoccurrence of an old hip injury from last year sustained at Magny-Cours.

“After the crash in Australia I have started to feel pain in the same place where I got injured in Magny-Cours,” Sofuoglu said. “I thought it would improve, but in the end as time went by, I kept feeling the pain.

“I took further examination and doctors found out that my hip still has a crack and that if I won’t stop and crash once again it can get worse leaving me with consequences in the future.

“Last year I stopped my recovery less than a month after the crash to ride in Qatar when I was meant to sit out for 12 weeks. Because of that my bones didn’t heal perfectly and so now, after Phillip Island crash, I need more time to allow my body to fully recover.”

Sofuoglu also missed the Thailand round 12 months ago with a separate injury, replaced by local rider Thitipong Warokorn, and this year ex-Moto2 rider Shah steps in with experience at the Thai circuit having competed in the Asia series.

“I am very happy about this opportunity,” Shah said. “For me riding with this team in the World Supersport championship is like a dream come true.

“I will try my best to finish the race within the top positions. Thank you so much to the team for having me as replacement rider and to Kawasaki.”