Aegerter’s successor at Kawasaki: Manager Kenan Sofuoglu’s complex plan

Ahead of the race weekend at Donington Park, Kawasaki announced David Salvador (23) as its first factory rider for the 2027 Supersport World Championship in early July. The Spaniard is a home-grown talent for the Japanese manufacturer; the 23-year-old leads the Sportbike World Championship following last weekend’s races at Magny-Cours.

With Salvador’s promotion, it became clear that Dominique Aegerter would lose his place with the ‘Greens’ – Jeremy Alcoba’s position was also looking shaky. Whilst the Swiss rider is in advanced talks with Team Ten Kate Yamaha – with whom he won the World Championship in 2021 and 2022 as well as 27 races – Alcoba’s future remains uncertain.

Kawasaki to field two new riders in 2027

It is now clear that Kawasaki team boss Manuel Puccetti – as he had already hinted at on SPEEDWEEK.com – will field two new riders in the Supersport World Championship in 2027. The Italian already has a favourite in mind. For this to become a reality, however, a number of things will need to pan out as he hopes.

At this point, we need to take a step back. Kenan Sofuoglu not only manages the three-time Superbike champion and current MotoGP rider Toprak Razgatlioglu, but also, amongst others, the Öncü twins, Deniz and Can. Deniz is competing in this season’s Moto2 World Championship for the Marc VDS team. Following the death of Marc van der Straten, all the signs suggest that the Moto2 class will be phased out after this season, with the main focus shifting to the Superbike World Championship. The Turkish rider had intended to switch teams for 2027 anyway, as he would like to ride a Kalex chassis again – Marc VDS uses Boscoscuro frames. However, such bikes are now hardly available; as things stand, he would have to sign for Gresini or RW Racing to do so.

Manager Kenan Sofuoglu (li.) mit Deniz Öncü

Foto: gold & goose

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If that doesn’t work out, Kenan Sofuoglu intends to move Deniz Öncü into the Supersport World Championship, where his brother Can currently holds third place in the championship standings and races for Ten Kate Yamaha. Now things get complicated: Can Öncü has a two-year contract with Yamaha, but the relationship between him and the Ten Kate team management is not exactly harmonious. And Kawasaki team boss Puccetti would love to have the 23-year-old back; he had already worked with him from 2020 to 2024. Sofuoglu subsequently brought Can to Yamaha, where he finished as runner-up in the 2025 World Championship with the Evan Bros team.

Kenan Sofuoglu’s idea is this: should he be unable to find a Kalex for Deniz in Moto2, he would place him with Yamaha in the Supersport World Championship – and, at the same time, transfer Can to Kawasaki. Yamaha has already signalled its willingness to accommodate this.

Kawasaki has not won a title for ten years

Kawasaki has enjoyed tremendous success in the Supersport class in the past, winning four world championships with Andrew Pitt (2001) and Kenan Sofuoglu (2012, 2015, 2016). Unlike all other manufacturers, with the exception of Honda, Kawasaki continues to rely on a four-cylinder engine; only the displacement has been slightly increased over the years from 600 to 636 cc. Experts are wondering whether this approach is still viable against competitors with larger-capacity engines under the next-generation regulations.