Kenny Roberts Jr
Kenny Leroy Roberts junior (born July 25, 1973 in Mountain View, California) is an American motorcycle racer who won the 500cc Road Racing World Championship in 2000. He is the first son of a World Champion to win the World Championship, as his father is Kenny Roberts. In total he has 8 wins, 10 poles and 8 fastest laps in 500cc and MotoGP.
Early years
KRJR first raced in Willow Springs 250cc in 1990, wininng 5 races. By 1993 he made his World 250cc debut at the Laguna Seca event, and was a full-time 250cc racer for 1994 and 1995.
He moved up to 500c World Championship racing with Yamaha in 1996, before joining his father's team in 1997, spending 2 years developing their Modenas 2-stroke bike.
Suzuki years
Suzuki signed him in 1999, and he entered the Malaysian race without having taken a pole or a podium, let alone a win. He took victory from pole there, setting him on his way to finishing 2nd overall in the series behind Alex Criville.
In 2000 he went one better, becoming the only rider between 1994 and 2003 to win the top world title on anything other than a Honda.
The team was not competitive in subseqeuent years, particularly after the switch to 990cc 4-stroke bikes for 2002, and the younger John Hopkins generally took stronger results, beating him in the championship every year from 2003 to 2005. Pole at Brazil 2004 was a rare highlight.
Team Roberts part 2
He will compete in 2006 in his father's team. Honda provides the RC211V V5 engine with the frame being designed by Team Roberts. He took his first podium of the season at Catalunya, having started on the front row to move up to 10th in the championship.
External links
- Team KR - Official site of the Proton KR GP team