15 December 2011 New WSS line-up eager for 2012 Season

Kenan Sofuoglu and Sheridan Morais will line up as team-mates in the official 2012 Kawasaki DeltaFin WSS team, managed by Vanni Lorenzini, and each rider has already started preparations in earnest.
Sheridan first got the chance to ride the Supersport Kawasaki at the end of season tests at Portimao, setting the fastest lap time and proving that he will be a force to be reckoned with as he moves over to WSS from the Superstock 1000 class. He claimed a podium on the 2011 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R for the Lorenzini by Leoni team at the final round of the year.

Kenan is already a double championship winning legend in the WSS paddock and will to return after a season spent in the Moto2 Championship. He has already had the chance to test his new machine and like Morais has set laps at Aragon and Valencia in Spain in readiness for the onrushing 2012 campaign, which starts in Australia in late February.

Kenan Sofuoglu: "I am very happy for this opportunity given to me by Kawasaki, a chance which has arrived in a particular moment of my sporting career. The experience in Moto2 was important but, for me, it is fundamental to fight for the title and I am sure that with the DeltaFin team behind me this will be possible. I come back to the Supersport World Championship happy with this choice, relying on the technical support of an important company.”

Sheridan Morais: “I have a good prior relationship with Kawasaki and that has built up here in this paddock. My DeltaFin team and Kawasaki have become like my family in Europe and think it is really like a family. We have a job to do but we all get on and enjoy each other’s company as well. I am working with a lot of the same guys I worked with last year.

The Supersport bike is really good and I have lots of telemetry and a number of different things to deal with on the Ninja ZX-6R, more than I did on the Superstock 1000 Ninja ZX-10R. We have had some dry testing time now, so I am getting used to the softer tyres and working on suspension a bit. The bike handles so well and I am just getting used to it all. I’m loving it.”


Steve Guttridge: Kawasaki Europe Race Planning Manager: “We have enjoyed a lot of success over the past few seasons working closely in WSS with our Provec team and I would like to thank the whole team and their riders for the efforts they have made in that time to put Kawasaki on the top.

Team Kawasaki DeltaFin will now be Kawasaki's official team in this class. Already they have put together a solid new team and have started testing their new race machine and rider combination for next year.

By signing Kenan they have brought a multiple World Champion back into the World Supersport mix and his ambition to win the title is very much the same as ours! Sheridan’s strengths, I believe, are firmly recognised on the Ninja ZX-6R and he has a depth of experience riding one for us, having won himself many national titles on that machine back in South Africa.”


Vanni Lorenzini: Team Manager: “In testing Kenan has confirmed he is a great champion turning in strong performances right away. Sheridan, still short of experience, has taken advantage of his track time on the bike and was very close his team-mate in lap times.

We now have a testing ban for a month and that means that we will make the maximum of our workshop time and material to prepare for more testing in the New Year, and the then the start of the new season. We will most probably return to testing in January, at Almeria on the 19th and 20th."


Marc Bandemer: DeltaFin Management: “We are very pleased to join Kawasaki and Vanni Lorenzini. Both of them, with the impulse of Jean Marc Dossios the project leader, will guarantee us to get to the highest level. We will be beside the team from the first race. We can't wait! Let's roll!”

See more racing news plus add your own comments, on the Kawasaki News UK Facebook site.

Follow Kawasaki on Twitter @Kawasaki-news