Kurtis Roberts, (born 17 November 1978 in
Turlock, California
Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States. Its population was 72,740 at the 2020 United States census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County after Modesto.
History
Founded on December 22, 1871, by pr ...
) is an American
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...
road racer. He is the youngest son of three-time
500cc World Champion Kenny Roberts
Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two-time w ...
, and the younger brother of
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
500cc World Champion
Kenny Roberts, Jr. He has raced in most major US and international motorcycle racing championships, in both
Grand Prix
( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural ''Grands Prix'') most commonly refers to:
* Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition
** List of Formula One Grands Prix, an auto-racing championship
*** Monaco Grand Prix, the most prestigious ...
and
Superbike
A sports motorcycle, sports bike, or sport bike is a motorcycle designed and optimized for speed, acceleration, braking, and cornering on asphalt concrete race tracks and roads. They are mainly designed for performance at the expense of comfor ...
categories.
AMA
In 1998 Kurtis joined Erion
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
, starting out in 250s as he had experience of this level. He was runner-up in the
AMA 250cc series that year, also riding in a few 600cc Supersport races. In both 1999 and 2000 he won the AMA Formula Xtreme series, adding the 600cc Supersport in 2000. Moving to the prestigious American Honda team, his first 3
AMA Superbike Championship
AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series based in the United States. The series is organized by MotoAmerica and is sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) as well as the Fédération Internationale de ...
podium finishes came in 2001 - taking his first wins and third overall in 2003, after missing much of 2002 due to injury. 2005 was a disastrous return to Erion, despite a second place in the
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is an annual motorcycle road racing competition held in early spring at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was founded in 1937 when it was sanctioned by the American Mo ...
.
International
In 1997 Kurtis contested the 250cc World Championship.
In 2004 he joined his father's
Proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...
MotoGP
Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on Road racing, road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held sin ...
team, but this was uncompetitive, scoring just one point all year. In he rode in selected
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship (also known as WorldSBK, SBK, World Superbike, WSB, or WSBK) is a silhouette road racing series based on heavily modified production sports motorcycles.
The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Champion ...
rounds for the
Pedercini Ducati
Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A () is an Italian motorcycle manufacturing company headquartered in Bologna, Italy.
History
Barely a month after the official liberation of Italy in 1944, SIATA announced its intention to sell this engine, called ...
team.
After attempting to set up an
AMA team with former champion
Doug Chandler
John Douglas Chandler (born September 27, 1965) is an American former professional motorcycle racer. He earned a reputation as one of the most versatile racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Chandler is one of only four riders in AMA racing history t ...
he resumed his links with his father's MotoGP team for 2007, taking over from his brother when
Kenny Roberts, Jr. decided the bike was not competitive enough. He took minor points in three successive rounds.
Career statistics
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
Races by year
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
AMA career summary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Kurtis
American motorcycle racers
Living people
1978 births
AMA Superbike Championship riders
250cc World Championship riders
MotoGP World Championship riders
Superbike World Championship riders