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