Kenny Roberts Jr.
Roberts Jr. on the Suzuki GSV-R
NationalityAmerican
Born (1973-07-25) July 25, 1973
Mountain View, California, United States
Motorcycle racing career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Active years1993–2007
First race1993 250cc United States Grand Prix
Last race2007 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix
First win1999 500cc Malaysian Grand Prix
Last win2000 500cc Pacific Grand Prix
Team(s)Yamaha, Modenas, Suzuki, KR211V, KR212V
Championships500cc - 2000
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
185 8 22 10 9 1210

Kenneth Leroy Roberts Jr. (born July 25, 1973, in Mountain View, California) is an American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who won the 2000 FIM Road Racing World Championship, after finishing runner-up in 1999.[1] Roberts Jr. is an 8-time Premier Class race winner. He joins his father Kenny Roberts as the only father-son duo to have won 500cc World Championships. Roberts was inducted into the F.I.M. MotoGP Hall of Fame in 2017.[2]

Career

Early years

Roberts first raced in the 250cc class at Willow Springs in 1990, winning 5 races in his debut season in road racing. By 1993, he made his World 500cc debut at the Laguna Seca Raceway event, and was a full-time 250cc racer for 1994 and 1995 with the Marlboro-Yamaha team.

Team Roberts

Roberts moved up to 500cc World Championship racing with Yamaha in 1996. He finished his debut season in 500cc in 13th position overall and Yamaha decided not to renew his contract. He then joined his father's team in 1997, spending two years developing their Modenas two-stroke bike. In those two years, he struggled to get into the top position, finishing 16th and 13th respectively in 1997 and 1998.

Suzuki years

Kenny Roberts Jr. (pictured at Donington Park) riding the Suzuki RGV500 in 1999.

In 1999, Suzuki signed him to their Grand Prix team. His debut race with Suzuki in Malaysia resulted in a surprise win, defeating the reigning champion, Michael Doohan. He went on to win the second race in Japan, where he again defeated Doohan. This winning streak put him as a strong contender to challenge Doohan for the championship. However, Doohan retired due to injuries suffered in an accident on the third race in Spain. Afterwards, the main challenge for the championship came from Doohan's teammate, Àlex Crivillé. Roberts failed to find consistency during the rest of the season, notching only two more wins and another four podiums. His lead in the championship subsequently was taken over by Crivillé, who later went on to win the title. Roberts would finish a respectable second in the championship.

He renewed his championship challenge in 2000. With Crivillé failing to regain his form, Roberts' main challenge came from Valentino Rossi, a rookie rider fresh from winning the 250cc title. This time, Roberts managed to find consistency by taking four wins and five podiums in 16 races. Roberts clinched his first title, two races before the end of the season, at the Rio Grand Prix after finishing 6th, although Rossi won the race. He became the first son of a former champion to also win the title. His victory also meant Suzuki broke Honda's six-year championship win streak.

Suzuki GSV-R, 2002.

In 2001, Roberts and Suzuki faced a tough task to defend the title. With Rossi dominating the series to win the title, Roberts only managed a single podium and finished the season in disappointing 11th position. This also marked the end of the two-stroke 500cc bike era as the regulations changed for 2002

Between 2002 and 2005, Roberts faced a difficult time in developing the new four-stroke 990cc Suzuki GSV-R bike to challenge Honda and Yamaha. He was also being challenged by his younger teammate, John Hopkins, who often outperformed him. Even in 2003 and 2004, Hopkins managed to finish the season ahead of Roberts. During the 4-year period, Roberts managed to gain only two podiums, one in 2002 and one in 2005. At the end of 2005, Suzuki decided not to renew Roberts' contract and opted for a younger rider in Chris Vermeulen.

Return to Team Roberts

He returned to his father's team in 2006. Honda provided the RC211V V5 engine with the frame being designed by Team Roberts and the bike subsequently named KR211V. He took his first podium of the season at Catalunya, having started on the front row.

A run of five successive top-five grid positions in mid-season showed the bike's promise. He again finished 3rd at Estoril, having led with one lap to go. Kenny later explained that he had miscounted the number of laps, and when he came onto the final straight with one lap to go, he expected to see the chequered flag, and that this distracted him and prevented him blocking Toni Elías' passing move. With these two podium finishes, he finished 6th in the standings at the end of the year, aided by riders such as Casey Stoner and Sete Gibernau missing races. This was Roberts' best result since winning the championship in 2000.

Roberts remained on his father's team at the start of 2007. However, 2007 again marked a new era as 990cc bike were replaced with an 800cc displacement formula. He rode the KR212V bike which are using the RC212V's V4 engine supplied by Honda. The 2007 season was less successful, due to Honda concentrating on improving the underperforming Repsol Honda factory machine. After only 4 points in the first part of the season, Kenny Jr. stopped racing midseason, replaced by his brother Kurtis, and never returned in 2007. Both Kenny and the entire team did not participate in 2008 season.

Career statistics

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
1993 250cc Yamaha TZM250 Team Roberts 75 1 0 0 0 0 6 27th –
1994 250cc Yamaha TZM250 Team Roberts 25 4 0 0 0 0 23 18th –
1995 250cc Yamaha TZM250 Team Roberts 25 13 0 0 0 0 82 8th –
1996 500cc Yamaha YZR500 Marlboro Team Roberts 10 13 0 0 0 0 69 13th –
1997 500cc Modenas KR3 Marlboro Team Roberts 10 15 0 0 0 0 37 16th –
1998 500cc Modenas KR3 Team Roberts 10 13 0 0 0 0 59 13th –
1999 500cc Suzuki RGV500 Suzuki Grand Prix Team 10 16 4 8 5 5 220 2nd –
2000 500cc Suzuki RGV500 Telefónica Movistar Suzuki 2 16 4 9 4 3 258 1st 1
2001 500cc Suzuki RGV500 Telefónica Movistar Suzuki 1 16 0 1 0 0 97 11th –
2002 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Telefónica Movistar Suzuki 10 15 0 1 0 0 99 9th –
2003 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Suzuki Grand Prix Team 10 13 0 0 0 0 22 19th –
2004 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Team Suzuki MotoGP 10 12 0 0 1 0 37 18th –
2005 MotoGP Suzuki GSV-R Team Suzuki MotoGP 10 14 0 1 0 0 63 13th –
2006 MotoGP KR211V Team Roberts 10 17 0 2 0 1 134 6th –
2007 MotoGP KR212V Team Roberts 10 7 0 0 0 0 4 24th –
Total 185 8 22 10 9 1210 1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts
1993 250cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED EUR RSM GBR CZE ITA USA
10		 FIM 27th 6
1994 250cc Yamaha AUS MAL JPN SPA AUT GER NED ITA FRA GBR CZE
Ret		 USA
8		 ARG
6		 EUR
11		 18th 23
1995 250cc Yamaha AUS
7		 MAL
9		 JPN
Ret		 SPA
Ret		 GER
4		 ITA
6		 NED
5		 FRA
6		 GBR
Ret		 CZE
8		 BRA
13		 ARG
Ret		 EUR
5		 8th 82
1996 500cc Yamaha MAL INA JPN
12		 SPA
6		 ITA
10		 FRA
Ret		 NED
5		 GER
5		 GBR
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 CZE
4		 IMO
10		 CAT
Ret		 BRA
13		 AUS
11		 13th 69
1997 500cc Modenas MAL
Ret		 JPN
Ret		 SPA
18		 ITA
Ret		 AUT
Ret		 FRA
Ret		 NED
8		 IMO
17		 GER
Ret		 BRA
Ret		 GBR
11		 CZE
9		 CAT
8		 INA
9		 AUS
14		 16th 37
1998 500cc Modenas JPN
11		 MAL
11		 SPA
9		 ITA
Ret		 FRA
13		 MAD
DNQ		 NED
9		 GBR
Ret		 GER
6		 CZE
10		 IMO
14		 CAT
10		 AUS
10		 ARG
11		 13th 59
1999 500cc Suzuki MAL
1		 JPN
1		 SPA
13		 FRA
Ret		 ITA
5		 CAT
6		 NED
2		 GBR
8		 GER
1		 CZE
3		 IMO
6		 VAL
2		 AUS
10		 RSA
22		 BRA
3		 ARG
1		 2nd 220
2000 500cc Suzuki RSA
6		 MAL
1		 JPN
2		 SPA
1		 FRA
6		 ITA
6		 CAT
1		 NED
Ret		 GBR
2		 GER
3		 CZE
4		 POR
2		 VAL
2		 BRA
6		 PAC
1		 AUS
7		 1st 258
2001 500cc Suzuki JPN
7		 RSA
7		 SPA
7		 FRA
6		 ITA
Ret		 CAT
Ret		 NED
6		 GBR
8		 GER
9		 CZE
Ret		 POR
6		 VAL
3		 PAC
8		 AUS
15		 MAL
Ret		 BRA
16		 11th 97
2002 MotoGP Suzuki JPN
Ret		 RSA
Ret		 SPA
8		 FRA
5		 ITA
Ret		 CAT
7		 NED
6		 GBR
14		 GER CZE
11		 POR
4		 BRA
3		 PAC
6		 MAL
8		 AUS
9		 VAL
Ret		 9th 99
2003 MotoGP Suzuki JPN
14		 RSA
15		 SPA
13		 FRA
16		 ITA
Ret		 CAT NED GBR GER
15		 CZE
20		 POR
17		 BRA
17		 PAC
15		 MAL
14		 AUS
9		 VAL
11		 19th 22
2004 MotoGP Suzuki RSA
Ret		 SPA
8		 FRA
12		 ITA
Ret		 CAT
17		 NED
16		 BRA
7		 GER
8		 GBR
17		 CZE
10		 POR
14		 JPN
Ret		 QAT MAL AUS VAL 18th 37
2005 MotoGP Suzuki SPA
Ret		 POR
12		 CHN
Ret		 FRA
13		 ITA
15		 CAT
15		 NED
16		 USA
14		 GBR
2		 GER
11		 CZE
11		 JPN
8		 MAL
7		 QAT
11		 AUS
WD		 TUR VAL 13th 63
2006 MotoGP KR211V SPA
8		 QAT
10		 TUR
13		 CHN
13		 FRA
Ret		 ITA
8		 CAT
3		 NED
5		 GBR
5		 GER
Ret		 USA
4		 CZE
4		 MAL
7		 AUS
14		 JPN
9		 POR
3		 VAL
8		 6th 134
2007 MotoGP KR212V QAT
13		 SPA
16		 TUR
16		 CHN
15		 FRA
Ret		 ITA
17		 CAT
16		 GBR NED GER USA CZE RSM POR JPN AUS MAL VAL 24th 4
Source:[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kenny Roberts Jr. statistics". motogp.com. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. Retrieved 28 December 2010.
  2. ↑ "MotoGP Legends". motogp.com. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
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