Kenny Roberts, Jr.

Kenneth Leroy Roberts Jr. (born July 25, 1973) is an American former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who won the 500cc Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Championship in 2000, after finishing runner-up in . Roberts Jr. is an eight-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.

Career

Early years Roberts first raced in the 250cc class at Willow Springs in 1990, winning five 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. 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 sixth. 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.

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. During the four-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 Roberts 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. Roberts again finished third at Estoril, having led with one lap to go. He 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 sixth 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 and the team's best result in the riders' standings since they started developing their own bikes.

Roberts remained on his father's team at the start of 2007. However, 2007 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 four 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

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