Kenny Roberts
| Motorcycle Grand Prix Career | |
| Nationality |  United States
|
|---|---|
| Active years | 1974, 1978 - 1983 |
| Team(s) | Yamaha |
| Grands Prix | 60 |
| Championships | 500cc - 1978, 1979, 1980 |
| Wins | 24 |
| Podium finishes | 44 |
| Pole positions | 22 |
| Fastest laps | 27 |
| First Grand Prix | 1974 250cc Dutch TT |
| First win | 1978 250cc Venezuelan Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1983 500cc San Marino Grand Prix |
| Last Grand Prix | 1983 500cc San Marino Grand Prix |
Kenny Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951 in Modesto, California) is a former motorcycle racer and the first American to win the 500cc Road Racing World Championship.
Roberts won two AMA Grand National Championships in 1973-1974, three consecutive 500cc World Championships in 1978-1980 and three victories at the Daytona 200. He is the father of Kenny Roberts Jr and Kurtis Roberts, both also champion motorcycle racers.
Roberts is regarded as being one of the first riders to use his knee to balance the bike on the track in corners, and the first to use engine power to spin the rear tyre exiting bends to help steer the bike (a technique known as "throttle steering", common among U.S. flat track racers). These techniques are used everywhere in the top levels of motorcycle road racing, though they are much less exaggerated with today's improvements in tire technology.
Racing History
Roberts made a name for himself by battling the dominant Harley-Davidson factory dirt track team aboard an underpowered Yamaha in the U.S. Grand National Championship, a series which encompassed events in four distinctive dirt track disciplines plus road racing. He became one of the few riders to win a national event in each of the four dirt disciplines and a road race. He made up for his bike's lack of horsepower with an almost fearless, determined riding style. This fearless style was highlighted in 1975 when Roberts competed at the Indy Mile National aboard a dirt track motorcycle with a Yamaha TZ 750 two-stroke road racing engine wedged inside its frame. On a bike that was considered unrideable due to its excessive horsepower, Roberts came from behind on the two-stroke, and overtook the factory Harley-Davidson duo of Korky Keener and Jay Springsteen on the last lap for one of the most famous wins in American dirt track racing history. Afterwards, Roberts was famously quoted as saying, "They don't pay me enough to ride that thing." [1]
Roberts ventured to Europe in 1978 to compete in the World Championship Grand Prix series. He surprised many observers by winning the 500cc crown in his first attempt, despite having no prior knowledge of the European circuits. Roberts was also known for his epic battles with British racing legend Barry Sheene, and the subsequent Grand Prix World Champion, American Freddie Spencer. His season long battle with Spencer for the 1983 500cc World Championship, in which they each won 6 races, and culminated in a last lap collision at the penultimate round in Sweden, is considered one of the greatest seasons in motorcycle Grand Prix history, along with the 1967 500cc duel between Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini. In a fitting end to a great career, Roberts won his last race in the final meeting of the 1983 season, the Italian Grand Prix.
Safety Advocate
Roberts is also remembered for being one of the first riders to take up the cause of rider safety. When Roberts arrived on the Grand Prix scene, motorcycle racers were competing at venues like Imatra in Finland that featured railroad crossings and hay bales wrapped around telephone poles. Roberts adopted a confrontational, sometimes beligerent stance with race promoters, challenging the previously accepted poor treatment that motorcycle racers of the day were accustomed to receiving. He organized a rider's revolt and threatened to start a competing race series called the World Series to challenge the FIM's monopoly on championship caliber motorcycle races. Though the competing series failed to take off, it forced the FIM to take the riders seriously and make changes regarding their safety.
Manager
After his racing career ended in 1983, Roberts turned to team management, guiding such riders as Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Luca Cadalora and others to race wins. As Team Yamaha's manager, Roberts won three 500cc World Championships with Rainey and one 250cc World Championship with John Kocinski.
Deciding he wanted to be more involved in motorcycle designing, Roberts made the decision to start his own motorcycle company. The venture was not as successful as his Yamaha years but proved he could do it. The team was well-funded by Proton of Malaysia, but the results were not as hoped and the backing faded. A high point came with the introduction of four-strokes in MotoGP; the Roberts bike was beating the old two-stroke lap times at some circuits and earning front row qualifying spots against the other factory four-strokes.
As of 2006, the team is still in operation and, ironically, is going back to a Japanese engine supplier. Honda will provide the RC211V V5 engine with the frame being designed by Team Roberts. It will be ridden by 2000 World Champion Kenny Roberts Jr, the first son of a World Champion to win the World Championship.
Awards
- Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1990
- Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
- The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.
Motorcycle Grands Prix Results
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 250cc | Yamaha | W.GER DNS |
NAT DNS |
GBR DNS |
NED 10 |
BEL DNS |
SWE DNS |
FIN DNS |
CZE DNS |
YUG DNS |
ESP DNS |
10 | 19th | 0 | |||
| 1978 | 250cc | Yamaha | VEN 15 |
ESP 12 |
AUT 12 |
FRA DNF |
NED 15 |
BEL DNS |
SWE DNS |
FIN DNS |
GBR DNS |
W.GER DNS |
CZE DNS |
YUG DNS |
54 | 4th | 2 | |
| 1978 | 500cc | Yamaha | VEN DNF |
ESP 12 |
AUT 15 |
FRA 15 |
NAT 15 |
NED 12 |
BEL 12 |
SWE 4 |
FIN DNF |
GBR 15 |
W.GER 10 |
110 | 1st | 4 | ||
| 1979 | 500cc | Yamaha | VEN DNS |
AUT 15 |
W.GER 12 |
NAT 15 |
ESP 15 |
YUG 15 |
NED 3 |
BEL DNS |
SWE 8 |
FIN 5 |
GBR 15 |
FRA 10 |
113 | 1st | 5 | |
| 1980 | 500cc | Yamaha | NAT 15 |
ESP 15 |
FRA 15 |
NED DNF |
BEL 10 |
FIN 12 |
GBR 12 |
W.GER 8 |
87 | 1st | 3 | |||||
| 1981 | 500cc | Yamaha | AUT DNS |
W.GER 15 |
NAT 15 |
FRA 6 |
YUG 10 |
NED DNS |
BEL 12 |
SM DNS |
GBR 12 |
FIN 4 |
SWE DNF |
74 | 3rd | 2 | ||
| 1982 | 500cc | Yamaha | ARG 15 |
AUT 10 |
FRA DNS |
ESP 15 |
NAT 8 |
NED 12 |
BEL 8 |
YUG DNF |
GBR DNF |
SWE DNF |
SM DNF |
W.GER DNF |
68 | 4th | 2 | |
| 1983 | 500cc | Yamaha | SAF 12 |
FRA 8 |
NAT DNF |
W.GER 15 |
ESP 12 |
AUT 15 |
YUG 8 |
NED 15 |
BEL 15 |
GBR 15 |
SWE 12 |
SM 15 |
142 | 2nd | 6 |
References
- 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
- Superbike Planet
- Motorcycle Hall of Fame
External links
- Team KR - Official site of the Proton KR GP team