World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu made the most of a testing programme at
Jerez and Portimao to familiarise himself with the K-Tech suspension he will use on his Mahi Kawasaki in 2013.
Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret were on track for the first time with the officially supported and newly formed Mahi Kawasaki team and in addition to experimenting with the new suspension units, they also used the tests to gel with their respective crew chiefs, Nico Sartori and Andrew Stone.
British rider Dan Linfoot has been left out of the team despite being told there was a ride available this year after making his debut with the Indian-based team this year when it ran under the MSD R-N Kawasaki banner.
Linfoot earned a podium finish at Magny-Cours at the end of the season but neither he nor Florian Marino have been retained after Sofuoglu and Foret were brought on board when the team underwent a name change and secured works support for next season.
Sofuoglu is aiming to retain his world crown in 2013 and the Turkish rider is confident he has the tools at his disposal to enable him to achieve his aim.
“The biggest thing about these tests is that we have found out what we need for the next time, when we test in January,” he said.
“I am sure we will be fully ready them. I am really happy with my new team because they have really good power to build everything how I need.
“I think it is looking to be a very strong year.
“The team had to work hard to be ready for the test and in the first test so there were a lot of things to and still to do, so I spent my time trying to get the feeling to the K-Tech suspension in Spain.
“We also wanted to test to meet each other and get some track time together before the end of the year,” added Sofuoglu.
“It was very useful in Spain to meet with the new mechanics and so on, and then when we went to Portimao the bike was working a lot better.”