SofuoÄŸlu makes his first podium of season in Assen

Turkish rider Kenan SofuoÄŸlu celebrates after finishing second in the Moto2 Grand Prix in Assen. The picture at left shows Honda’s Marco Simoncelli of Italy (R) and Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo crashing in the first lap, while the other shows Italy’s Michele Pirro after crashing his Moriwaki. Turkey’s Technomag-CIP rider Kenan SofuoÄŸlu finished second in the Iveco TT event in the Dutch city of Assen on Saturday, completing the crash-marred race in slippery and wet conditions behind Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol’s reigning 125cc champion, Marc Marquez of Spain.

After seven races, this was the first podium of the season for SofuoÄŸlu, the Turkish rider who finished eighth in the last race in Silverstone, England. For the 18-year-old Marquez, it was his second victory in his debut Moto 2 championship season. Britain’s Tech 3 rider Bradley Smith came in third. SofuoÄŸlu and Smith were ahead throughout the grueling race, putting up a good fight against Marquez and Japan’s Gresini Racing rider Yuki Takahashi, who made it up to second position before crashing out shortly afterwards with just отгораживающему

The race became more dangerous toward the end as the track began to dry, tires started to wear and accidents therefore were inevitable. Championship leader Stefan Bradl of Viessmann Kiefer Racing, who crashed out with only three laps to go, failed to finish a race for the first time this season and also saw his lead trimmed. Michele Pirro completed a bad day for Gresini Racing after crashing out in the last lap.

As fate would have it, Marquez managed to overtake SofuoÄŸlu and win the unforgettable race by more than two seconds. And the Turkish rider had to make do with second place after he sped past Smith with four laps remaining.

The next Moto2 races this month are the Italian Grand Prix at the Mugello Circuit on July 3, which will be followed by the German Grand Prix at Sachsenring on July 17 and Red Bull US GP in California on July 24. Hence, there is plenty of time for slow starter SofuoÄŸlu to close the gap.