Kenny Roberts

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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 and 1974, three consecutive 500cc World Championships in 1978, 1979 and 1980 along with three victories at the Daytona 200. He is the father of the 2000 500cc World Champion, Kenny Roberts Jr, the only father and son duo to have won the title.

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.

Contents 1 Racing History 1.1 Safety Advocate 1.2 Manager 2 Awards 3 Motorcycle Grands Prix Results 4 References 5 External links

[edit] 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. Ironically, Roberts would have never competed in the world championships if Yamaha had had a bike able to compete against the Harley Davidson dirt track team.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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	IOM 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

[edit] References

• 50 Years Of Moto Grand Prix (1st edition). Hazelton Publishing Ltd, 1999. ISBN 1-874557-83-7
• Superbike Planet
• Motorcycle Hall of Fame

[edit] External links

• Team KR - Official site of the Proton KR GP team

Preceded by: Barry Sheene

500cc Motorcycle World Champion 1978-1980

Succeeded by: Marco Lucchinelli