Sophomore MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rider Bahattin Sofuoglu and the Yamaha Motoxracing team have announced that they will mutually part ways effective immediately. The #54 will move to World Supersport, where he will continue for the rest of 2026 with QJMOTOR Factory Racing. 

For Sofuoglu, his new chapter will begin at Cremona, replacing Spanish rider Marcos Ramirez (QJMOTOR Factory Racing Team) atop QJMOTOR’s exciting new project, currently competing in its third WorldSSP season. Sofuoglu joins the team in a good moment, as just last round, Sofuoglu’s new teammate, Raffaele de Rosa, landed the SRK 800 RS’s best result yet this season of P13. Sofuoglu enjoyed a successful three-season stint in WorldSSP from 2022 to 2024; highlighted by a personal-best 2023 campaign. That year, the #54 earned four podiums and a race win in Catalonia, his most successful season in the paddock since 2021, when Sofuoglu took sixth place as well in WorldSSP300. Having tested on the Chinese manufacturer’s bike already this season, the Turk is looking to dive headfirst into this new challenge and take the project to new heights.

On his new chapter, Sofuoglu said: “I am about to make an important change and, in some ways, an unexpected decision. First of all, I would like to thank the team I have been with up to now, with whom I have worked and shared many experiences over the past two years. I care deeply about all of them and I am pleased that we will still be in the same paddock. I had the opportunity to test the SRK 800 RS and work with the team during the tests in August, and that was when the idea of starting this new project came about. This will see me contest the final three rounds of the WorldSSP season with the QJMOTOR Factory Racing Team. I am really looking forward to getting back on my new bike and I am highly motivated to give my very best.”

On their new signing, QJMOTOR Marketing Director Lu Shuairong said: “Bahattin is a young rider with great potential. During testing in Cremona, everyone could see how passionate he was and that he had a good feeling on our SRK 800 RS. So, let’s see what happens in the next three races and – of course – we need to be patient with both the bike and the rider, making progress step by step.”