Sofuoglu, the nephew fighting in the shadows: without a competitive bike, his potential remains hidden

For years we got used to seeing a Turkish rider leading the Superbike World Championship with the number 54 on the fairing: Toprak Razgatlioglu. In 2026 there is still a Turkish rider with the same number, but destined to languish at the back. We are clearly talking about Bahattin Sofuoglu.

Is the young nephew of Kenan a talent, or is he in Superbike just because of his name? First, a premise is necessary. With the bike Bahattin has this year, not even Toprak would be able to be a protagonist. The Motoxracing team is moving mountains: they have good technicians, a solid structure, but their Yamaha is by far the least competitive bike in the entire Superbike World Championship. With that ultra-privateer R1, even managing to get into the points is an achievement.

Bahattin Sofuoglu carries a very heavy surname. In Turkey, his uncle Kenan is a very, very important figure and is influential even in the production-based paddock. Bahattin grew up with this burden on his shoulders, breathing the smell of burnt rubber since childhood in the garden of his home in Adapazarı under his uncle’s watchful—and often very strict—eye. His path has not been a red carpet eased by a famous name, but a climb made of dust and passes on the limit.

After cutting his teeth in national championships, Bahattin found his first true international footing in the World Supersport 300 Championship. That’s where the public began to notice that raw talent: a physical, instinctive riding style, typical of someone who trains daily with friend Toprak Razgatlioglu. It’s precisely those “fratricidal” training sessions, where fairings are not spared even on a normal Tuesday afternoon, that forged the young Turk. In World Supersport 300 he finished third in 2020 and took several wins and podiums.

Upon moving up to World Supersport he managed to win a race and climb the podium several times, despite never having a truly top-level bike at his disposal. In Supersport he generally managed to show solid potential.

In 2025 he then stepped up to Superbike but with Motoxracing. In his rookie season he put together a more-than-respectable championship with the machinery he had, finishing in the points on 12 occasions with a tenth place as his best result. This year he may not manage to do better, but not through any fault of his or the team’s; even Yamaha factory riders are struggling, so imagine what those from a very privateer team can do. A new R1 is needed, as Paul Denning said, or at least a bike fit for the circumstances. As long as he is riding the current bike, it will be very difficult to understand the true potential of the young Sofuoglu.