Joe Roberts

Joe Roberts (born June 16, 1997) is an American professional motorcycle racer. Roberts competes in the FIM Moto2 World Championship with OnlyFans American Racing Team aboard a Kalex chassis bike.

Career

Early career Roberts' introduction to motorcycles was at a young age. He first rode a 50 cc motorcycle just shy of his fourth birthday. Roberts's earliest competition was in youth flat track and Supermoto. (2011–2013) with the Red Bull Rookies. In his first season, he recorded a win and a track record at Brno, a track he had never seen before. He improved his results in 2012 with best finishes of second, fourth, fifth setting a record for the youngest win in AMA Pro Road racing. He won again at Laguna Seca and scored another double win at Miller Motorsports Park, thereby scoring five wins from the five AMA races he entered.

In 2014, Roberts returned full-time to the US to ride for Team Hammer in AMA Daytona Sportbike on a Honda CBR600RR. However, the combination of an uncompetitive package and some injuries meant he wasn't able to continue his run of success from 2013. For 2015, Roberts returned to his winning ways aboard a Yamaha R6 in the new AMA/FIM MotoAmerica Stock600 class with nine wins and a second from 11 starts, sealing the championship at Laguna Seca, before the final round of the series at New Jersey, where he moved up to the Supersport class. There, he dominated practice and qualifying, had a runaway victory in Race 1 and finished a close second in Race 2. He finished third in Superprestigio in Las Vegas at the end of the year. 2016 saw him compete in AMA/MotoAmerica Supersport on a Yamaha R6 where he climbed the podium three times and scored three pole positions. He was unfortunately forced to miss several races due to injury.

Moto2 World Championship AGR Team (2017) 2017 In 2017, Roberts returned to Europe to compete in the FIM CEV Moto2 class with the AGRteam. Mid-year due to his strong performance on the Kalex machine, he was invited by AGR to join the World Championship Moto2 team and made a sensational debut in Brno coming from 29th on the grid to finish tenth in his first race at the world level.

NTS RW Racing GP (2018) 2018 In 2018, Roberts competed in Moto2 riding for NTS Racing GP.

American Racing (2019–2020) 2019 From 2019 season, Roberts rode for American Racing.

2020 In , Roberts qualified on pole position at the opening round of the season, becoming the first American rider to do so since Ben Spies at the 2010 Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix and the first one in Moto2 since Kenny Noyes at the 2010 French motorcycle Grand Prix. He finished the race in fourth, after never having finished better than 13th over the previous two seasons. He would qualify for pole again in the fourth round and finished the race in third, becoming the first American rider on the podium since Spies at the 2011 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix and the first in mid class since John Kocinski at the 1993 Dutch TT. A documentary was made by Dorna following Roberts and American Racing titled Behind The Stars And Stripes.

After the 2020 season, Roberts was seen as a hot commodity in the Grand Prix World Championship. Roberts was offered not only deals with multiple front running teams on the Moto2 grid but was even offered a MotoGP ride with Aprilia to partner Aleix Espargaro in 2021, a move that was endorsed not only by Roberts manager and American Racing team principal Eitan Butbul but also his mentor John Hopkins and was even endorsed by Espargaro himself.

Italtrans Racing Team (2021–2023) 2021 Roberts ultimately declined the offer to move up to MotoGP for Aprilia upon consulting with Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso and instead chose to race for Italtrans Racing Team, whom Moto2 series champion Enea Bastianini raced for before moving up to MotoGP himself.

Italtrans Racing announced on September 27, 2021, that they had resigned Roberts for another season. Roberts suffered a broken collarbone at Misano on October 22, 2021, and underwent surgery the following Tuesday, forcing him to miss the last two rounds of the 2021 season.

Return to American Racing (2024) American Racing Team announced a deal with Roberts for the 2024 Moto2 season. The Malibu rider returned to the team that led him to make his debut in the world championship, now with content subscription service OnlyFans as a big sponsor.

Career statistics Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Pos Pts 2011 SPA1 SPA2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 NED1 NED2 ITA GER1 GER2 CZE1 CZE2 RSM 12th 65 2012 SPA1 SPA2 POR1 POR2 GBR1 GBR2 NED1 NED2 GER1 GER2 CZE1 CZE2 RSM ARA1 ARA2 9th 101 2013 AME1 AME2 JER1 JER2 ASS1 ASS2 SAC1 SAC2 BRN SIL1 SIL2 MIS ARA1 ARA2 14th 60

FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2017 Kalex ALB CAT1 CAT2 VAL1 VAL2 EST1 EST2 JER ARA1 ARA2 VAL 5th 111

MotoAmerica Superbike Championship By season Season Class Motorcycle Race Win Podium Pts Plcd 2015 Stock600 Yamaha 11 9 11 N/A 1st 2016 SSP Yamaha N/A N/A N/A 142 6th

Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto2 2017–present 2017 Czech Republic 2020 Czech Republic 2022 Portugal 159 3 9 5 3 678.5 0 Total 2017–present 159 3 9 5 3 678.5 0

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Half points awarded as less than two thirds (2022 Thailand GP)/less than half (2023 Australian GP) of the race distance (but at least three full laps) was completed. Season still in progress.