Kenny Roberts Jr. facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Kenny Roberts Jr.
Roberts Jr. on the Suzuki GSV-R
Born	(1973-07-25) July 25, 1973 (age 52) Mountain View, California, United States
Motorcycle racing career statistics Grand Prix motorcycle racing Active years 1993–2007 First race 1993 250cc United States Grand Prix Last race 2007 MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix First win 1999 500cc Malaysian Grand Prix Last win 2000 500cc Pacific Grand Prix Team(s) Yamaha, Modenas, Suzuki, KR211V, KR212V Championships 500cc - 2000 Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 185 8 22 10 9 1210

Kenneth Leroy Roberts Jr. (born July 25, 1973) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing, which is the highest level of motorcycle road racing. In 2000, he won the 500cc Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Championship.

Kenny Roberts Jr. won 8 races in the top class of motorcycle racing. He and his father, Kenny Roberts, are the only father-son duo to have both won 500cc World Championships. In 2017, Roberts Jr. was added to the MotoGP Hall of Fame. This is a special group for the sport's greatest riders.

Racing Career Highlights

Starting in Racing

Kenny Roberts Jr. began his road racing career in 1990. He raced in the 250cc class at Willow Springs. In his very first season, he won 5 races.

By 1993, he made his first appearance in the 500cc World Championship. This happened at the Laguna Seca Raceway event. For 1994 and 1995, he raced full-time in the 250cc class. He was part of the Marlboro-Yamaha team during these years.

Joining His Father's Team

In 1996, Roberts Jr. moved up to the 500cc World Championship. He raced with Yamaha. He finished his first 500cc season in 13th place overall. After this, Yamaha decided not to continue his contract.

So, in 1997, he joined his father's team, Team Roberts. For two years, he worked on developing their Modenas two-stroke bike. It was a challenging time, and he struggled to get top results. He finished 16th in 1997 and 13th in 1998.

Success with Suzuki

Kenny Roberts Jr. riding the Suzuki RGV500 in 1999.

In 1999, Suzuki signed Kenny Roberts Jr. to their Grand Prix team. His first race with Suzuki was in Malaysia. He surprised everyone by winning, beating the current champion, Michael Doohan. He then won his second race in Japan, again defeating Doohan. These wins made him a strong challenger for the championship.

However, Doohan retired from racing after an injury in Spain. Roberts Jr.'s main rival then became Doohan's teammate, Àlex Crivillé. Roberts Jr. had some ups and downs during the rest of the season. He won two more races and had four other podium finishes. Crivillé eventually took the lead and won the championship. Roberts Jr. finished a very good second place.

He aimed for the championship again in 2000. This time, Crivillé was not performing as well. Roberts Jr.'s main competitor was Valentino Rossi, a new rider who had just won the 250cc title. Roberts Jr. was very consistent in 2000. He won four races and had five other podium finishes in 16 races.

Roberts Jr. won his first championship title two races before the season ended. This happened at the Rio Grand Prix, where he finished 6th. Rossi won that particular race. Kenny Roberts Jr. became the first son of a former champion to also win the title. His victory also ended Honda's six-year winning streak in the championship.

The Suzuki GSV-R in 2002.

In 2001, defending his title was tough for Roberts Jr. and Suzuki. Rossi dominated the series and won the title. Roberts Jr. only managed one podium finish and ended the season in 11th place. This year also marked the end of the 500cc two-stroke bike era. New rules for 2002 meant bikes would use four-stroke engines.

From 2002 to 2005, Roberts Jr. had a difficult time. He worked on developing the new four-stroke 990cc Suzuki GSV-R bike. It was hard to compete with Honda and Yamaha. His younger teammate, John Hopkins, often performed better than him. In 2003 and 2004, Hopkins finished ahead of Roberts Jr. During these four years, Roberts Jr. only achieved two podium finishes. One was in 2002 and another in 2005. At the end of 2005, Suzuki decided not to renew his contract. They chose a younger rider, Chris Vermeulen, instead.

Returning to Team Roberts

In 2006, Kenny Roberts Jr. returned to his father's team. Honda provided the engine for their bike, called the KR211V. The frame was designed by Team Roberts. He earned his first podium of the season in Catalunya, starting from the front row.

He had a great run of five top-five starting positions in the middle of the season. This showed how promising the bike was. He finished 3rd again at Estoril, even leading the race with one lap to go. Kenny later said he miscounted the laps. This distracted him and stopped him from blocking Toni Elías's passing move. With these two podium finishes, he ended the year in 6th place overall. This was his best result since winning the championship in 2000.

Roberts Jr. stayed with his father's team for the start of the 2007 season. This year brought new rules again. The 990cc bikes were replaced with 800cc bikes. He rode the KR212V bike, which used a Honda engine. The 2007 season was not as successful. Honda was focusing on improving their own factory team's bike. After earning only 4 points in the first part of the season, Kenny Jr. stopped racing mid-season. His brother, Kurtis, took his place. Kenny Roberts Jr. did not return to racing in 2007. Neither Kenny nor the team participated in the 2008 season.

Career Statistics

Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing

By Season

See also

In Spanish: Kenny Roberts Jr para niños