Kenny Roberts
Encyclopedia
Kenneth Leroy Roberts is a former 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 winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship
. Roberts is one of only four riders in American Motorcyclist Association
(AMA) racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing Grand National wins at a mile, half-mile, short-track, TT Steeplechase and road race events.
Roberts left his mark on Grand Prix motorcycle racing as a world championship winning rider, an advocate for increased safety standards in racing, and as a racing team owner and constructor. His dirt track-based riding style changed the way Grand Prix motorcycles were ridden. Roberts' proposal to create a rival motorcycle championship in 1979 broke the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
(FIM) hegemony and increased the political clout of Grand Prix racers, which subsequently led to improved safety standards and a new era of professionalism in the sport. In 2000, Roberts was named a Grand Prix Legend by the FIM.
racing after attending a local race in Modesto and deciding that he wanted to compete himself. His father purchased a Tohatsu
bike for him, but once it proved itself uncompetitive as a race bike, he moved up to a more powerful Hodaka
motorcycle.
Roberts seemed to have a natural talent for dirt track racing and began winning local races. In 1968, his race results drew the attention of a local Suzuki
dealer named Bud Askland who offered to sponsor Roberts aboard a Suzuki motorcycle. He made the decision to drop out of high school before his senior year to pursue a career in motorcycle racing. Roberts was allowed to compete professionally when he turned 18, and on the day after his eighteenth birthday, he entered his first professional race at San Francisco's Cow Palace
, finishing in fourth place.
importer's team, who agreed to make Roberts a factory sponsored rider at the age of 19. Yamaha asked the head of their American racing program, former 250 cc world champion Kel Carruthers
to help guide Roberts' racing career. It would mark the beginning of a long and lucrative relationship between the two men. Carruthers ended his riding career after the 1973 season to concentrate full time on managing Roberts' and Yamaha's efforts in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship, a series which encompassed events in four distinctive dirt track disciplines plus road racing
.
In 1971, Roberts won the AMA Rookie of the Year Award. In his first professional race as an expert class rider in 1972, Roberts rode to victory at the Grand National short-track race in the Houston Astrodome. Roberts made a name for himself that year by battling the dominant Harley-Davidson
factory dirt track team aboard an underpowered Yamaha XS 650
motorcycle, making up for his lack of horsepower with sheer determination. He finished the season ranked fourth in the country. In 1973, in just his second season as an expert, Roberts won the national championship, amassing a record 2,014 points in the 25-race series.
While Roberts had a natural talent for riding motorcycles on dirt surfaces, on paved road circuits, the motorcycle felt unsettled beneath him while negotiating a turn. After observing Finnish rider Jarno Saarinen
win the 1973 Daytona 200
using a riding style where he shifted his body weight towards the inside of a turn, Roberts tried the technique and found that it helped settle the motorcycle. He adopted the cornering style and exaggerated the body shift to a greater extent than Saarinen had by extending his knee out until it skimmed the track surface. With his new riding technique, Roberts began to excel in road race events. The one area where Yamaha motorcycles outperformed Harley-Davidsons was in road racing, where the Yamaha TZ750 was the dominant motorcycle of the era.
In the 1974 Daytona 200, after early leader Gary Nixon
retired, Roberts battled for the lead with former 500 cc world champion, Giacomo Agostini
before an overheated engine forced him to settle for second place. In April 1974, Roberts ventured to Europe for the first time to compete in the prestigious Imola 200
road race for 750 cc motorcycles. He made a positive impression against the best road racers in the world, once again finishing second to Agostini. He then travelled to England with a team of American riders to compete against a team of British riders in the 1974 Transatlantic Match races. The conventional wisdom at the time was that American riders, who competed mostly in dirt track races, could not race on asphalt at the same level as the British riders, who specialized in road racing events. Roberts dispelled any such notions by winning three of the six races and finishing second in the remaining three races. Roberts was the top individual points scorer in the event with 93 points, five more than Barry Sheene
, the top British rider.
Roberts returned to compete in the 1974 Grand National championship and would win his first national road race at Road Atlanta
on June 2, 1974. On August 18, Roberts won the Peoria TT race to complete a Grand Slam with victories in each of the five different events on the Grand National calendar. He claimed his second consecutive Grand National championship, winning six races and surpassing his 1973 points record by scoring 2,286 points in the 23 race series, collecting points in all 23 races. Roberts also entered his first world championship road racing event, finishing third in the 1974
250 cc Dutch TT
.
Roberts continued his road racing successes in 1975, winning three out of four races in the 1975 Transatlantic Match races. After having won the national championship in 1974, Roberts faced an increasingly difficult battle in dirt track races as, Harley-Davidson continued to improve their XR-750
dirt tracker while Yamaha struggled to maintain the pace. Roberts made up for his bike's lack of power with an almost fearless, determined riding style. He would battle Harley-Davidson factory rider Gary Scott throughout the 1975 season but mechanical breakdowns hampered his title defense. He had been leading the Daytona 200 when mechanical problems yielded the victory to his Yamaha teammate Gene Romero
. At the Ascot TT, Roberts battled from 17th place to take the lead before a broken sprocket ended his race. Roberts' fearless riding style was highlighted at the Indy Mile Grand National. In a desperate effort to keep Scott within reach in the points chase, Yamaha wedged a Yamaha TZ750 two-stroke road racing engine inside a dirt track 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 Corky Keener and Jay Springsteen
on the last lap for one of the most famous wins in American dirt track racing history. Afterward, Roberts was famously quoted as saying, "They pay me enough to ride that thing". Despite accomplishing another Grand Slam, this time in only one season, Roberts would lose his crown, finishing second to Gary Scott in the 1975 national championship.
Although Roberts won four Grand Nationals in 1976, he continued to experience mechanical misfortunes as well as a horsepower deficit to the Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the mile and half-mile dirt track events. He had been leading the Daytona 200 once again when tire troubles forced him to make a lengthy pit stop, as Johnny Cecotto
went on to win the race. He dropped to third in the national championship as Jay Springsteen claimed the title for the Harley-Davidson team. He returned to England in April 1977, winning four out of six races at the 1977 Transatlantic Match races. Roberts then travelled to Italy where he raced in the Imola 200, leaving no doubt he was capable of competing at the international level by winning both legs and setting a new track record. He returned to the United States to compete in the Grand National championship where he won five of the six road races that made up the pavement portion of the series. In the road race event at Sears Point
, Roberts started the race at the back of the pack and passed the entire field within four laps to win the race. Despite being in contention for much of the season, Roberts was unable to win any of the dirt track events and eventually finished the year in fourth place.
to compete in the World Championship Grand Prix road racing series, along with Kel Carruthers
to act as his mentor and crew chief. Roberts also secured the financial backing of the Goodyear
tire company. The team planned to compete in the 250 cc world championship as well as the Formula 750
series in order to have more practice time to learn the tracks, but their main focus would be on the 500 cc class, considered the premier class at the time. His main competition in the 500 cc world championship would come from Suzuki rider Barry Sheene, winner of the two previous titles. Roberts said that he was initially indifferent about competing in Europe, but when he read that Sheene had labeled him as,"no threat", he made up his mind to compete. Few observers gave Roberts any chance of winning the championship, citing the reasoning that it would take him at least one season to learn the European circuits.
Roberts' riding style, bred on the dirt tracks of America, revolutionized road racing. Prior to his arrival in Europe, riders focused on attaining high entry speeds into corners, leaving braking until the last possible moment then, carving graceful arcs through the corners with both wheels in line. Roberts did just the opposite, braking early then, quickly applying the throttle which resulted in the rear tire breaking traction and spinning. The motorcycle technology of the late 1970s featured engines with power in excess of what the frames and tires of the day could accommodate. The resulting tire spin caused the motorcycle to buck and shake as it continually broke traction, creating a brutal, violent riding style that no one had ever seen before on the racetracks of Europe. His riding style was reminiscent of dirt track riding, where sliding the rear tire to one side is used as a method to steer the motorcycle around a corner. The result of his earlier application of the throttle was that, he was able to attain top speed faster than his competitors.
The 1978 season started with Roberts winning the Daytona 200
in a dominating fashion. After several near misses where he was forced to retire while leading the event, Roberts lapped the entire field en route to his first Daytona victory. He then won a rain-shortened Imola 200 race and was the second highest individual scorer behind Pat Hennen
at the 1978 Transatlantic Match races. The 1978
world championship chase did not start well for Roberts at the season-opening round in Venezuela. Although Roberts won the 250 cc Grand Prix, Sheene claimed the victory in the 500 cc Venezuelan Grand Prix
while Roberts' Yamaha suffered a mechanical failure. In the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix
, Roberts improved with a second place behind fellow American Pat Hennen. Roberts then won his first-ever 500 cc Grand Prix with a win in Austria
, quickly followed by two more victories in France
and Italy
, along with two second place finishes in Holland
and Belgium
. At the Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts crashed during practice for the 250 cc race, sustaining a concussion and a thumb injury. Shaken up by the accident, he could do no better than a seventh place in the 500 cc race. Sheene had come down with a debilitating virus at the Venezuelan round, but a string of podium finishes and a victory at the Swedish Grand Prix
combined with Roberts' failure to score any points in Finland
, allowed him to close the points gap.
The two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix
with only three points separating them. The race would end in controversy when torrential rains during the race along with pit stops for tire changes by both Roberts and Sheene, created confusion among official scorers. Eventually Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer
Steve Manship who did not stop for a tire change. In the final race of the season at the daunting, 14.2 mile long (22.8 km) Nürburgring
racetrack in Germany
, Roberts finished in third place, ahead of Sheene in fourth place to claim the first world championship for an American rider in Grand Prix road racing history. He also scored four victories to finish second behind Johnny Cecotto in the Formula 750 world championship, and won two races to finish fourth in the 250 cc world championship.
season began disastrously for Roberts when he suffered career-threatening back injuries and a ruptured spleen
in a pre-season crash while testing a motorcycle in Japan. His injuries caused him to miss the season opening Grand Prix in Venezuela, but he completed an impressive recovery by winning the second round in Austria, followed by a second place in Germany, and another victory in Italy. Controversy again surrounded Roberts at the Spanish Grand Prix when Spanish race organisers, knowing that Roberts had to race to maintain his points lead, refused to pay him starting money as guaranteed by FIM regulations. An angered Roberts proceeded to win the race, and then refused to accept the winner's trophy. The FIM initially suspended the championship points leader for his actions, but the suspension was later reduced to probation.
Further controversy ensued at the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa
circuit. The circuit had been paved just days before the race, creating a track that many of the racers felt was unsafe due to diesel fuel seeping to the surface. Roberts and the new championship points leader, Virginio Ferrari
, instigated a riders' revolt and refused to race. Once again, the FIM responded by suspending Roberts and Ferrari. The FIM later reduced this to another probation. The event highlighted the animosity between Roberts and the FIM concerning track safety. Roberts further irritated the FIM when he began talking to the press about forming a rival racing series to compete against the FIM's monopoly.
The series then moved on to Britain, where Roberts would be involved in one of the closest races in Grand Prix history. Roberts' battle with Sheene at the 1979 British Grand Prix
at Silverstone
has been cited as one of the greatest races of the 1970s. Minutes before the start of the race, Roberts' Yamaha blew a seal and sprayed the bike with oil. His crew managed to replace the seal in time, but Roberts went to the starting line with his gloves coated with oil, causing his hand to slip on the throttle during the race. The race began with Roberts, Sheene and Dutch rider Wil Hartog
breaking away from the rest of the field of riders. Hartog eventually fell behind as Roberts and Sheene continued to battle for the lead. The event featured numerous lead changes throughout the 28 lap race, with Roberts winning ahead of Sheene by a narrow margin of just three-tenths of a second. A third place finish in the season-ending French Grand Prix, along with a crash by his main championship rival Ferrari, secured his second consecutive world championship.
In December 1979, Roberts made good on his threats when he, along with the other top world championship riders, released a letter to the press announcing their intention to break away from the FIM and create a rival race series called the World Series. When Roberts first arrived on the Grand Prix scene, motorcycle racers were competing for as little prize money as $200, at venues such as Imatra
in Finland that featured railroad crossings and hay bales wrapped around telephone poles. In 1956
, the reigning 500 cc world champion, Geoff Duke
and thirteen other riders were given six month suspensions for merely threatening to strike. Roberts adopted a confrontational, sometimes belligerent stance with race promoters, challenging the previously accepted poor treatment that motorcycle racers of the day were accustomed to receiving. Although the competing series failed to take off due to difficulties in securing enough venues, it forced the FIM to take the riders seriously and make changes regarding their safety. During the 1979 FIM Congress, new rules were passed increasing prize money substantially and in subsequent years, stricter safety regulations were imposed on race organizers.
For the 1980
Grand Prix season, the Yamaha factory made the Yamaha USA team of Roberts and Carruthers the de facto factory racing team. The season got underway two months late due to cancellation of Austrian and Venezuelan rounds. Barry Sheene had been replaced by Randy Mamola
as the top Suzuki rider as, Sheene had been dissatisfied with the Suzuki's efforts and had turned to a privateer Yamaha team. Roberts won the first three races as the Suzuki team appeared to be in disarray, but by the third race, the Suzukis of Mamola and Marco Lucchinelli
were making things more difficult for Roberts. Roberts' Yamaha suffered a deflating front tire in Holland forcing him to pull out of the race, but his main championship rivals also suffered setbacks with Cecotto, Ferrari and Hartog all missing races due to injuries and Sheene suffering mechanical breakdowns. Suzuki riders went on to win the last four races, but Roberts had built up a sufficient point lead to hold on and clinch his third consecutive 500 cc world championship.
, Yamaha introduced a new square
-four engined bike, similar to Suzuki's RG500
. Roberts raced to a second place finish behind Marco Luchinelli at the non-championship Imola 200 race. Roberts' bike had a suspension failure in the Grand Prix season opener at Austria, but he rebounded to win the next two races in Germany and Italy. Roberts' title hopes suffered a setback at the Dutch TT
at Assen when, his Yamaha's front brake pads were installed incorrectly causing his front wheel to lock up on the starting line, ending his race before it had started. He came back to score a second place behind Lucchinelli in Belgium, but was once again struck by misfortune when a bad case of food poisoning forced him to miss the San Marino Grand Prix. He then narrowly lost the British Grand Prix to Jack Middelburg
by three-tenths of a second before ending his season with a seventh place in Finland and a retirement in Sweden. Suzuki team riders Mamola and Lucchinelli battled to the final race of the season before the Italian claimed the championship with a total of five Grand Prix victories, with Mamola finishing in second and Roberts in third place.
Roberts switched to Dunlop
tires for the 1982
season, as Goodyear pulled out of motorcycle racing. New competition had arrived as Honda entered their new two-stroke NS500
ridden by defending champion Lucchinelli, former 350 cc world champion, Takazumi Katayama
and newcomer Freddie Spencer
. Roberts won the season-opening round in Argentina
on the old square-four Yamaha, but then switched to the new OW61 YZR500
V4 engine
d bike. He came in third at the Austrian Grand Prix then, sat out the French Grand Prix at Nogaro
as he and the other top riders boycotted the race over unsafe track conditions. Roberts then won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama ahead of Sheene, and scored a second place behind Suzuki rider Franco Uncini
in Holland. In a portent of things to come, Roberts was leading the Belgian Grand Prix when his Dunlop tires lost their grip and he had to settle for fourth place as Spencer went on to win his first Grand Prix for Honda. Roberts then injured his knee and finger at the British Grand Prix and had to miss the Swedish round, but by then the world championship had been claimed by Uncini with a total of five victories while Roberts fell to fourth place. By the end of the 1982 season, Roberts had won sixteen 500 cc Grand Prix races, more than double that of any of his contemporaries.
season would be his final year in Grand Prix competition. Yamaha team manager Giacomo Agostini had been unable to agree on a contract with rider Graeme Crosby
, so AMA Superbike champion Eddie Lawson
was brought in as Roberts' new teammate. The 1983 battle for the championship between Roberts and Honda's Spencer would be considered one of the greatest seasons in motorcycle Grand Prix history, along with the 1967 500 cc duel
between Mike Hailwood
and Giacomo Agostini. Roberts began the season with his YZR500 having problems with overheating and rear suspension, while Spencer started strongly, winning the first three races and five out of the first seven. Roberts was leading the second race in France, when his Yamaha split an expansion chamber
causing it to lose power as Spencer won, with Roberts falling to fourth place. In Round 3 at Monza
, Roberts crashed while leading Spencer three laps from the finish. Roberts came back to win the German Grand Prix, but then finished second to Spencer in Spain in a race Spencer called one of the toughest of his career. Things began to go Roberts' way at the Austrian Grand Prix as Roberts won while Spencer's Honda suffered a crankshaft
failure. In the Yugoslavian Grand Prix
, Roberts' Yamaha failed to start immediately, while Spencer charged to an early lead, leaving Roberts to fight through the field to finish in fourth place. Roberts then went on a three-race winning streak with victories in Holland, Belgium and England, while Spencer stayed close with a third place and two second place finishes.
The championship then moved to the penultimate round at the Swedish Grand Prix
with Spencer holding a two point lead over Roberts. Roberts led Spencer going into the last lap of the race. Heading down the back straight, Spencer placed his Honda right behind Roberts' Yamaha as they reached the second to the last corner, a ninety degree right-hander. As both riders applied their brakes, Spencer came out of Roberts' slipstream
and managed to get inside of the Yamaha. As they exited the corner, both riders ran wide off the track and into the dirt. Spencer was able to get back on the track and back on the power first, crossing the finish line just ahead of Roberts for a crucial victory. Roberts considered Spencer's pass to be foolish and dangerous, and exchanged angry words with him on the podium. Roberts would have to win the final round at the San Marino Grand Prix with Spencer finishing no better than third place in order for Roberts to win his fourth world championship. In a fitting end to a great career, Roberts won his last-ever Grand Prix race, however Spencer was able to secure second place to claim the world championship. The two riders dominated the season with each claiming six victories in the 12 race series.
Roberts continued to ride in selected events in 1984. In March, he battled Spencer to win his second consecutive Daytona 200 and third win overall. In July, Roberts won the first leg of the Laguna Seca
200, then finished second to Randy Mamola in the second leg, as Mamola was declared the winner based on aggregate times. In September, he appeared at the Springfield Mile Grand National dirt track race riding a Mert Lawwill
-prepared Harley-Davidson XR750, but failed to make the final.
In July 1985, Roberts won the pole position at the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours
endurance race
, held in Japan. Teamed with Tadahiko Taira
, the duo were leading the race until the final hour, when mechanical problems dropped them back to seventeenth place. Roberts returned to compete in the 1986 Suzuka 8 Hours, this time teaming up with American Mike Baldwin
. He qualified second behind Wayne Gardner
, but failed to finish the race.
to accomplish the Grand Slam of winning all five events of the Grand National Championship.
, he entered a team into the 250 cc world championship with riders Wayne Rainey
and Alan Carter
using Yamaha bikes. In 1986
he moved up to the 500 cc world championship with riders Randy Mamola and Mike Baldwin. After returning to the United States to compete in the AMA Superbike championship, Wayne Rainey re-joined the team in 1988
, finishing in third place in his inaugural 500 cc season then, improving to second place behind Eddie Lawson in 1989
. In 1990
, Roberts secured the financial support of the Marlboro cigarette company, and his team became the official Yamaha factory racing team. Roberts team riders Rainey and John Kocinski
won the 500 cc and 250 cc world championships in 1990, making Roberts the most successful team manager in Grand Prix racing at the time. Rainey went on to win three consecutive 500 cc world championships for Roberts' team. After Rainey was left paralyzed in a crash at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix
, the Roberts team continued racing with Luca Cadalora
as their main rider, but struggled during a period dominated by Honda and their rider, Mick Doohan.
In 1997
, Roberts stunned the racing world when he left Yamaha after more than 25 years to start his own motorcycle company. Roberts had grown weary of battling over the direction he felt the Yamaha team needed to pursue. Basing his new company in England to take advantage of the Formula 1 industry, Roberts built a three-cylinder, two-stroke engine with the engineering assistance of Tom Walkinshaw Racing
. He decided to take advantage of rules allowing lighter weights for three-cylinder motorcycles after observing the agility and handling advantage of Spencer's Honda NS500 during the 1983 season. Unfortunately, by the time the motorcycle had been developed, tire technology had improved to the point where any advantage over four-cylinder
bikes had been negated. The motorcycle did manage to win a pole position
with rider Jeremy McWilliams
taking the top qualifying position at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix
against the new breed of 990 cc four-stroke MotoGP motorcycles.
With the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002
, Roberts' team developed a five-cylinder bike called the KR5. The team was originally well-funded by Proton
of Malaysia, but by the middle of the 2004
season, it became apparent that the Roberts team wasn't able to field an engine capable of competing with the dominant Japanese factories. Roberts turned to the KTM
factory to provide engines for the 2005
season, however after ten races KTM abruptly withdrew their support on the eve of the Czech Republic Grand Prix
, forcing the team to miss several races. Honda stepped in to help Roberts' team for the 2006
season by providing five-cylinder engines, as Robert's son, Kenny Roberts, Jr., rode the Team Roberts KR211V
bike to a sixth place in the championship including two podium results. The 2007
season saw the introduction of a new MotoGP engine formula using 800 cc four-stroke engines. Roberts would once again secure engines from Honda for the Team Roberts KR212V race bike, but the results were not as hoped, and funding for the team faded. After the 2007 season, Roberts pulled out of MotoGP competition due to the lack of sponsorship.
to 1999
, every 500 cc world championship was won by a rider with a dirt track racing background. Roberts' cornering method of hanging off the motorcycles with his knee extended forced him to use duct tape as knee pads, and eventually led to the introduction of purpose-built knee pucks used by all motorcycle road racers today. His battles with the Grand Prix establishment eventually led to the adoption of stricter safety standards for Grand Prix race organizers. He was one of the first riders to challenge the FIM over the way they treated competitors and helped improve prize money as well as the professionalism of the sport. It was not until Roberts planned his rival race series in 1980 that the FIM was forced to change the way in which they dealt with motorcycle racers.
Throughout his career, Roberts has been a strong proponent of raising the image of motorcycle racing among the general public. During his riding career, he made a point of returning to the United States during the mid-season break in the Grand Prix calendar to race in the Laguna Seca 200 as a way to increase the profile of the event in order for it to gain Grand Prix status. The race eventually attained Grand Prix status in 1988
and in 1993
, Roberts took on the role of promoter, providing financial backing for the 1993 United States Grand Prix
. In the 1990s when Grand Prix racing faced diminishing numbers of competitors due to increasing costs, Roberts demanded that Yamaha provide engines to privateer teams in order to bolster the numbers of racers.
Roberts' son, Kenny Roberts, Jr., won the 2000
500 cc World Championship, making them the only father and son duo to have won the title. Ironically, Roberts has stated that he considers himself a dirt tracker at heart and only took up road racing because it was necessary to do so if a rider was going to compete for the Grand National championship. He also said that he would have preferred to remain in the United States to compete in the Grand National championship if Yamaha or another manufacturer had been able to construct a dirt track racer capable of competing with Harley-Davidson.
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...
world championship. He was also a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship
A.M.A. Grand National Championship
The AMA Grand National Championship is an American motorcycle racing series. The race series, founded and sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association in 1954, originally encompassed five distinct forms of competitions including; mile dirt track races, half-mile, short-track, TT...
. Roberts is one of only four riders in American Motorcyclist Association
American Motorcyclist Association
The American Motorcyclist Association is an American not-for-profit organization of more than 300,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights...
(AMA) racing history to win the AMA Grand Slam, representing Grand National wins at a mile, half-mile, short-track, TT Steeplechase and road race events.
Roberts left his mark on Grand Prix motorcycle racing as a world championship winning rider, an advocate for increased safety standards in racing, and as a racing team owner and constructor. His dirt track-based riding style changed the way Grand Prix motorcycles were ridden. Roberts' proposal to create a rival motorcycle championship in 1979 broke the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme
The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the governing body of motorcycle racing. It represents 103 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions....
(FIM) hegemony and increased the political clout of Grand Prix racers, which subsequently led to improved safety standards and a new era of professionalism in the sport. In 2000, Roberts was named a Grand Prix Legend by the FIM.
Early life
As a child growing up in Modesto, Roberts was originally interested in horseback riding. He rode his first motorcycle at the age of 12 when a friend dared him to ride a mini bike. Roberts accepted the challenge and the experience thrilled him. He built his own motorcycle by attaching his father's lawn mower engine to a bicycle frame. Roberts began his career in dirt trackTrack racing
Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type....
racing after attending a local race in Modesto and deciding that he wanted to compete himself. His father purchased a Tohatsu
Tohatsu
The Tohatsu Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, was founded in 1922. It manufactures and sells outboard motors, pleasure boats, portable fire pumps, small fire trucks, pumps for construction and drainage, refrigeration units for transportation and also does real estate property management in Japan.The...
bike for him, but once it proved itself uncompetitive as a race bike, he moved up to a more powerful Hodaka
Hodaka
Hodaka was a joint Japanese and American company that manufactured motorcycles in the 1960s and 1970s.The company also went by the name PABATCO, for Pacific Basin Trading Company. Its headquarters were in the rural town of Athena, Oregon. Pabatco was owned by Shell Oil Company from 1965 to 1978...
motorcycle.
Roberts seemed to have a natural talent for dirt track racing and began winning local races. In 1968, his race results drew the attention of a local Suzuki
Suzuki
is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Hamamatsu, Japan that specializes in manufacturing compact automobiles and 4x4 vehicles, a full range of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles , outboard marine engines, wheelchairs and a variety of other small internal combustion engines...
dealer named Bud Askland who offered to sponsor Roberts aboard a Suzuki motorcycle. He made the decision to drop out of high school before his senior year to pursue a career in motorcycle racing. Roberts was allowed to compete professionally when he turned 18, and on the day after his eighteenth birthday, he entered his first professional race at San Francisco's Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
, finishing in fourth place.
A.M.A. Grand National Championship
Realizing that Roberts would need more help if his racing career was going to progress, Askland introduced Roberts to airline pilot and amateur motorcycle racer Jim Doyle, who would become Roberts' personal manager. In 1971, Doyle and Roberts approached Triumph's American distributor to ask about the possibility of a sponsored ride, but were told that Roberts was too small for one of their bikes. They then turned to the American YamahaYamaha Motor Company
, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...
importer's team, who agreed to make Roberts a factory sponsored rider at the age of 19. Yamaha asked the head of their American racing program, former 250 cc world champion Kel Carruthers
Kel Carruthers
Kelvin "Kel" Carruthers is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He went on to become a successful race team manager....
to help guide Roberts' racing career. It would mark the beginning of a long and lucrative relationship between the two men. Carruthers ended his riding career after the 1973 season to concentrate full time on managing Roberts' and Yamaha's efforts in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship, a series which encompassed events in four distinctive dirt track disciplines plus road racing
Road racing
Road racing is a general term for most forms of motor racing held on paved, purpose-built race tracks , as opposed to oval tracks and off-road racing...
.
In 1971, Roberts won the AMA Rookie of the Year Award. In his first professional race as an expert class rider in 1972, Roberts rode to victory at the Grand National short-track race in the Houston Astrodome. Roberts made a name for himself that year by battling the dominant Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
factory dirt track team aboard an underpowered Yamaha XS 650
Yamaha XS 650
The XS650 is a mid-size motorcycle made by Yamaha Motor Company. The standard model was introduced in 1968 and produced through 1979. The "Special" cruiser model was introduced in 1978 and produced through 1985. The XS650 began with the 1955 Hosk SOHC 500 twin. After about 10 years of producing 500...
motorcycle, making up for his lack of horsepower with sheer determination. He finished the season ranked fourth in the country. In 1973, in just his second season as an expert, Roberts won the national championship, amassing a record 2,014 points in the 25-race series.
While Roberts had a natural talent for riding motorcycles on dirt surfaces, on paved road circuits, the motorcycle felt unsettled beneath him while negotiating a turn. After observing Finnish rider Jarno Saarinen
Jarno Saarinen
Jarno Karl Keimo Saarinen was a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is the only Finn to win a road racing World Championship.- Career :...
win the 1973 Daytona 200
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is a 68-lap, motorcycle race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.-History:The race evolved from a beach racing venue in 1937 to the Daytona International Speedway course in 1961....
using a riding style where he shifted his body weight towards the inside of a turn, Roberts tried the technique and found that it helped settle the motorcycle. He adopted the cornering style and exaggerated the body shift to a greater extent than Saarinen had by extending his knee out until it skimmed the track surface. With his new riding technique, Roberts began to excel in road race events. The one area where Yamaha motorcycles outperformed Harley-Davidsons was in road racing, where the Yamaha TZ750 was the dominant motorcycle of the era.
In the 1974 Daytona 200, after early leader Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon
Gary Nixon was an American motorcycle racer who, when on Triumph motorcycles, most notably won the A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1967 and 1968. He was also a former winner of the Daytona 200 motorcycle race on a 500cc Triumph, claiming a victory in the 1967 event...
retired, Roberts battled for the lead with former 500 cc world champion, Giacomo Agostini
Giacomo Agostini
-Non-riding career:Like John Surtees and Mike Hailwood before him, Agostini raced in Formula One cars. He competed in non-championship Formula One races in 1978. He competed in the European Formula 2 series in a Chevron B42-BMW and British Aurora Formula 1 with his own team and a Williams FW06...
before an overheated engine forced him to settle for second place. In April 1974, Roberts ventured to Europe for the first time to compete in the prestigious Imola 200
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is an auto racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, east of Bologna and east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello....
road race for 750 cc motorcycles. He made a positive impression against the best road racers in the world, once again finishing second to Agostini. He then travelled to England with a team of American riders to compete against a team of British riders in the 1974 Transatlantic Match races. The conventional wisdom at the time was that American riders, who competed mostly in dirt track races, could not race on asphalt at the same level as the British riders, who specialized in road racing events. Roberts dispelled any such notions by winning three of the six races and finishing second in the remaining three races. Roberts was the top individual points scorer in the event with 93 points, five more than Barry Sheene
Barry Sheene
Barry Stephen Frank Sheene MBE was a British World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer.-Early life:...
, the top British rider.
Roberts returned to compete in the 1974 Grand National championship and would win his first national road race at Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta
Road Atlanta is a 2.54-mile road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, USA. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur sports car and motorcycle races, racing and driving schools, corporate programs and testing for motorsports teams...
on June 2, 1974. On August 18, Roberts won the Peoria TT race to complete a Grand Slam with victories in each of the five different events on the Grand National calendar. He claimed his second consecutive Grand National championship, winning six races and surpassing his 1973 points record by scoring 2,286 points in the 23 race series, collecting points in all 23 races. Roberts also entered his first world championship road racing event, finishing third in the 1974
1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 26th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:MV Agusta and Phil Read claimed a second successive 500cc crown. It would be the Italian firm's last world championship and their seventeenth 500cc title in a row. Giacomo Agostini...
250 cc Dutch TT
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
.
Roberts continued his road racing successes in 1975, winning three out of four races in the 1975 Transatlantic Match races. After having won the national championship in 1974, Roberts faced an increasingly difficult battle in dirt track races as, Harley-Davidson continued to improve their XR-750
Harley-Davidson XR-750
The XR-750 is a Harley-Davidson racing motorcycle made since 1970, primarily for dirt track racing, but also for road racing in the XRTT variant...
dirt tracker while Yamaha struggled to maintain the pace. Roberts made up for his bike's lack of power with an almost fearless, determined riding style. He would battle Harley-Davidson factory rider Gary Scott throughout the 1975 season but mechanical breakdowns hampered his title defense. He had been leading the Daytona 200 when mechanical problems yielded the victory to his Yamaha teammate Gene Romero
Gene Romero
Gene Romero is a former motorcycle racer who won the 1970 A.M.A. Grand National Championship and the 1975 Daytona 200. He competed in the 200 fourteen times, finishing second in 1970 and 1971....
. At the Ascot TT, Roberts battled from 17th place to take the lead before a broken sprocket ended his race. Roberts' fearless riding style was highlighted at the Indy Mile Grand National. In a desperate effort to keep Scott within reach in the points chase, Yamaha wedged a Yamaha TZ750 two-stroke road racing engine inside a dirt track 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 Corky Keener and Jay Springsteen
Jay Springsteen
Jay Springsteen is a professional motorcycle dirt track racer.He began his professional racing career in 1973 by winning the AMA's Rookie of the Year award. As a member of the Harley Davidson factory race team, he went on to win three consecutive A.M.A. Grand National Championship in 1976, 1977,...
on the last lap for one of the most famous wins in American dirt track racing history. Afterward, Roberts was famously quoted as saying, "They pay me enough to ride that thing". Despite accomplishing another Grand Slam, this time in only one season, Roberts would lose his crown, finishing second to Gary Scott in the 1975 national championship.
Although Roberts won four Grand Nationals in 1976, he continued to experience mechanical misfortunes as well as a horsepower deficit to the Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the mile and half-mile dirt track events. He had been leading the Daytona 200 once again when tire troubles forced him to make a lengthy pit stop, as Johnny Cecotto
Johnny Cecotto
Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver...
went on to win the race. He dropped to third in the national championship as Jay Springsteen claimed the title for the Harley-Davidson team. He returned to England in April 1977, winning four out of six races at the 1977 Transatlantic Match races. Roberts then travelled to Italy where he raced in the Imola 200, leaving no doubt he was capable of competing at the international level by winning both legs and setting a new track record. He returned to the United States to compete in the Grand National championship where he won five of the six road races that made up the pavement portion of the series. In the road race event at Sears Point
Infineon Raceway
Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains near Sonoma, California, USA. The course is a complex series of twists and turns that go up and down the hills...
, Roberts started the race at the back of the pack and passed the entire field within four laps to win the race. Despite being in contention for much of the season, Roberts was unable to win any of the dirt track events and eventually finished the year in fourth place.
First American world champion
When it became apparent that Yamaha could not develop a dirt track motorcycle capable of competing with the dominant Harley-Davidson dirt track team, the American Yamaha importer, Yamaha USA, offered to send Roberts to Europe in 19781978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 30th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:There was an air of excitement at the start of the 1978 Grand Prix season. The popularity of defending champion, Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the...
to compete in the World Championship Grand Prix road racing series, along with Kel Carruthers
Kel Carruthers
Kelvin "Kel" Carruthers is an Australian former world champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He went on to become a successful race team manager....
to act as his mentor and crew chief. Roberts also secured the financial backing of the Goodyear
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
tire company. The team planned to compete in the 250 cc world championship as well as the Formula 750
Formula 750
Formula 750 was a FIM motorcycle road racing series based on a 750 cubic centimeter engine capacity. The series began in 1973 as a British based series. In 1975 the series was upgraded to European championship status and in 1977, it attained world championship status. The FIM discontinued the class...
series in order to have more practice time to learn the tracks, but their main focus would be on the 500 cc class, considered the premier class at the time. His main competition in the 500 cc world championship would come from Suzuki rider Barry Sheene, winner of the two previous titles. Roberts said that he was initially indifferent about competing in Europe, but when he read that Sheene had labeled him as,"no threat", he made up his mind to compete. Few observers gave Roberts any chance of winning the championship, citing the reasoning that it would take him at least one season to learn the European circuits.
Roberts' riding style, bred on the dirt tracks of America, revolutionized road racing. Prior to his arrival in Europe, riders focused on attaining high entry speeds into corners, leaving braking until the last possible moment then, carving graceful arcs through the corners with both wheels in line. Roberts did just the opposite, braking early then, quickly applying the throttle which resulted in the rear tire breaking traction and spinning. The motorcycle technology of the late 1970s featured engines with power in excess of what the frames and tires of the day could accommodate. The resulting tire spin caused the motorcycle to buck and shake as it continually broke traction, creating a brutal, violent riding style that no one had ever seen before on the racetracks of Europe. His riding style was reminiscent of dirt track riding, where sliding the rear tire to one side is used as a method to steer the motorcycle around a corner. The result of his earlier application of the throttle was that, he was able to attain top speed faster than his competitors.
The 1978 season started with Roberts winning the Daytona 200
Daytona 200
The Daytona 200 is a 68-lap, motorcycle race held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.-History:The race evolved from a beach racing venue in 1937 to the Daytona International Speedway course in 1961....
in a dominating fashion. After several near misses where he was forced to retire while leading the event, Roberts lapped the entire field en route to his first Daytona victory. He then won a rain-shortened Imola 200 race and was the second highest individual scorer behind Pat Hennen
Pat Hennen
Pat Hennen is an American former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is remembered for being the first American to win a 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle road race when he won the 1976 Finnish Grand Prix....
at the 1978 Transatlantic Match races. The 1978
1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 30th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:There was an air of excitement at the start of the 1978 Grand Prix season. The popularity of defending champion, Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the...
world championship chase did not start well for Roberts at the season-opening round in Venezuela. Although Roberts won the 250 cc Grand Prix, Sheene claimed the victory in the 500 cc Venezuelan Grand Prix
Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix
The Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1977 to 1979,-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:...
while Roberts' Yamaha suffered a mechanical failure. In the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix
Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the...
, Roberts improved with a second place behind fellow American Pat Hennen. Roberts then won his first-ever 500 cc Grand Prix with a win in Austria
Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix
The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:...
, quickly followed by two more victories in France
French motorcycle Grand Prix
The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:...
and Italy
Italian motorcycle Grand Prix
The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza...
, along with two second place finishes in Holland
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
and Belgium
Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix
The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:...
. At the Swedish Grand Prix, Roberts crashed during practice for the 250 cc race, sustaining a concussion and a thumb injury. Shaken up by the accident, he could do no better than a seventh place in the 500 cc race. Sheene had come down with a debilitating virus at the Venezuelan round, but a string of podium finishes and a victory at the Swedish Grand Prix
Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix
The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:...
combined with Roberts' failure to score any points in Finland
Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix
Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc...
, allowed him to close the points gap.
The two championship contenders arrived in England for the British Grand Prix
British motorcycle Grand Prix
The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:...
with only three points separating them. The race would end in controversy when torrential rains during the race along with pit stops for tire changes by both Roberts and Sheene, created confusion among official scorers. Eventually Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer
Privateer (motorsport)
In motor sport, a privateer is usually an entrant into a racing event that is not directly supported by an automobile manufacturer. Privateers teams are often found competing in rally and circuit racing events, and often include competitors who build and maintain their own vehicles...
Steve Manship who did not stop for a tire change. In the final race of the season at the daunting, 14.2 mile long (22.8 km) Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
racetrack in Germany
German motorcycle Grand Prix
The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full...
, Roberts finished in third place, ahead of Sheene in fourth place to claim the first world championship for an American rider in Grand Prix road racing history. He also scored four victories to finish second behind Johnny Cecotto in the Formula 750 world championship, and won two races to finish fourth in the 250 cc world championship.
The rebel leader
The 19791979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 31st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:A season of changing fortunes in the 500cc class saw American, Kenny Roberts capture his second crown in the face of the Suzuki-mounted opposition. In the 50cc class, Eugenio...
season began disastrously for Roberts when he suffered career-threatening back injuries and a ruptured spleen
Ruptured spleen
Rupture of the capsule of the spleen, an organ in the upper left part of the abdomen, is a situation that requires immediate medical attention. The rupture of a normal spleen can be caused by trauma, such as a car accident.-Function In the Body:...
in a pre-season crash while testing a motorcycle in Japan. His injuries caused him to miss the season opening Grand Prix in Venezuela, but he completed an impressive recovery by winning the second round in Austria, followed by a second place in Germany, and another victory in Italy. Controversy again surrounded Roberts at the Spanish Grand Prix when Spanish race organisers, knowing that Roberts had to race to maintain his points lead, refused to pay him starting money as guaranteed by FIM regulations. An angered Roberts proceeded to win the race, and then refused to accept the winner's trophy. The FIM initially suspended the championship points leader for his actions, but the suspension was later reduced to probation.
Further controversy ensued at the Belgian Grand Prix at the Spa
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix and the Spa 24 Hours endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its...
circuit. The circuit had been paved just days before the race, creating a track that many of the racers felt was unsafe due to diesel fuel seeping to the surface. Roberts and the new championship points leader, Virginio Ferrari
Virginio Ferrari
Virginio Ferrari is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. His best season was in the 1979 500cc world championship, when he finished second to Kenny Roberts....
, instigated a riders' revolt and refused to race. Once again, the FIM responded by suspending Roberts and Ferrari. The FIM later reduced this to another probation. The event highlighted the animosity between Roberts and the FIM concerning track safety. Roberts further irritated the FIM when he began talking to the press about forming a rival racing series to compete against the FIM's monopoly.
The series then moved on to Britain, where Roberts would be involved in one of the closest races in Grand Prix history. Roberts' battle with Sheene at the 1979 British Grand Prix
1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1979 British motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh event of the 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom....
at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
has been cited as one of the greatest races of the 1970s. Minutes before the start of the race, Roberts' Yamaha blew a seal and sprayed the bike with oil. His crew managed to replace the seal in time, but Roberts went to the starting line with his gloves coated with oil, causing his hand to slip on the throttle during the race. The race began with Roberts, Sheene and Dutch rider Wil Hartog
Wil Hartog
Wil Hartog is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1977, Hartog became the first Dutchman to win a 500cc Grand Prix when he claimed a victory at the Dutch TT. That victory earned him a ride with the Suzuki factory team as a team-mate to Barry Sheene. Hartog won five Grands Prix during his...
breaking away from the rest of the field of riders. Hartog eventually fell behind as Roberts and Sheene continued to battle for the lead. The event featured numerous lead changes throughout the 28 lap race, with Roberts winning ahead of Sheene by a narrow margin of just three-tenths of a second. A third place finish in the season-ending French Grand Prix, along with a crash by his main championship rival Ferrari, secured his second consecutive world championship.
In December 1979, Roberts made good on his threats when he, along with the other top world championship riders, released a letter to the press announcing their intention to break away from the FIM and create a rival race series called the World Series. When Roberts first arrived on the Grand Prix scene, motorcycle racers were competing for as little prize money as $200, at venues such as Imatra
Imatra
Imatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and...
in Finland that featured railroad crossings and hay bales wrapped around telephone poles. In 1956
1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1956 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 8th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of six Grand Prix races in five classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc and Sidecars 500cc...
, the reigning 500 cc world champion, Geoff Duke
Geoff Duke
Geoffrey Ernest Duke OBE is a British multi-time motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion.Geoff Duke dominated motorcycle racing in the 1950s, winning six world championships and six Isle of Man TT races...
and thirteen other riders were given six month suspensions for merely threatening to strike. Roberts adopted a confrontational, sometimes belligerent stance with race promoters, challenging the previously accepted poor treatment that motorcycle racers of the day were accustomed to receiving. Although the competing series failed to take off due to difficulties in securing enough venues, it forced the FIM to take the riders seriously and make changes regarding their safety. During the 1979 FIM Congress, new rules were passed increasing prize money substantially and in subsequent years, stricter safety regulations were imposed on race organizers.
A third world championship
In February 1980, Roberts made a remarkable return to the American Grand National Championship for two races at the season opening Houston TT and short-track events held in the Houston Astrodome over two evenings. After more than a year away from dirt track competitions, Roberts won the Houston TT race to tie Bart Markel's career record of 28 Grand National victories. He followed that the next evening with a third place in the Houston short-track national. Returning to England once again for the 1980 Transatlantic Match races, Roberts was once again the top individual points scorer as he led the American team to victory over the British.For the 1980
1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 32nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Yamaha's Kenny Roberts claimed his third successive 500cc world championship in a season shortened by the cancellations of the Venezuelan and Austrian rounds. Randy Mamola took...
Grand Prix season, the Yamaha factory made the Yamaha USA team of Roberts and Carruthers the de facto factory racing team. The season got underway two months late due to cancellation of Austrian and Venezuelan rounds. Barry Sheene had been replaced by Randy Mamola
Randy Mamola
Randy Mamola born in San Jose, California is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is considered one of the most talented riders never to have won a world championship.-Career:...
as the top Suzuki rider as, Sheene had been dissatisfied with the Suzuki's efforts and had turned to a privateer Yamaha team. Roberts won the first three races as the Suzuki team appeared to be in disarray, but by the third race, the Suzukis of Mamola and Marco Lucchinelli
Marco Lucchinelli
Marco Lucchinelli is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1981 he won the FIM 500cc World Championship.Lucchinelli began his road racing career in 1975 on a Laverda in endurance racing...
were making things more difficult for Roberts. Roberts' Yamaha suffered a deflating front tire in Holland forcing him to pull out of the race, but his main championship rivals also suffered setbacks with Cecotto, Ferrari and Hartog all missing races due to injuries and Sheene suffering mechanical breakdowns. Suzuki riders went on to win the last four races, but Roberts had built up a sufficient point lead to hold on and clinch his third consecutive 500 cc world championship.
A reversal of fortune
In 19811981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Suzuki riders Marco Lucchinelli and Randy Mamola battled it out to the final race of the season with the Italian rider claiming the crown and Mamola finishing runner-up for the...
, Yamaha introduced a new square
U engine
A U engine is a piston engine made up of two separate straight engines joined by gears or chains. It is similar to the H engine which couples two flat engines...
-four engined bike, similar to Suzuki's RG500
Suzuki RG500
The Suzuki RG500 "Gamma" was a motorcycle built by Suzuki between 1985 and 1987 and inspired by the 1984 Suzuki RG500 "Gamma" Grand Prix motorcycle, capitalizing on Suzuki's seven consecutive constructors title wins in the 500 cc-class. The Gamma was powered by a two stroke, rotary valve, twin...
. Roberts raced to a second place finish behind Marco Luchinelli at the non-championship Imola 200 race. Roberts' bike had a suspension failure in the Grand Prix season opener at Austria, but he rebounded to win the next two races in Germany and Italy. Roberts' title hopes suffered a setback at the Dutch TT
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
at Assen when, his Yamaha's front brake pads were installed incorrectly causing his front wheel to lock up on the starting line, ending his race before it had started. He came back to score a second place behind Lucchinelli in Belgium, but was once again struck by misfortune when a bad case of food poisoning forced him to miss the San Marino Grand Prix. He then narrowly lost the British Grand Prix to Jack Middelburg
Jack Middelburg
Jack Middelburg was a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. Together with Wil Hartog and Boet van Dulmen, he was part of a contingent of Dutch riders who competed at the highest levels of Grand Prix racing in the late 1970s. Middelburg never earned a factory-sponsored race bike, yet managed to...
by three-tenths of a second before ending his season with a seventh place in Finland and a retirement in Sweden. Suzuki team riders Mamola and Lucchinelli battled to the final race of the season before the Italian claimed the championship with a total of five Grand Prix victories, with Mamola finishing in second and Roberts in third place.
Roberts switched to Dunlop
Dunlop Tyres
Dunlop Tyres is a British company owned 75% by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company and 25% by Sumitomo Rubber Industries, which bought the right to sell Dunlop-branded road tyres....
tires for the 1982
1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 34th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Italian Franco Uncini on the Roberto Gallina backed Suzuki took a well-earned championship in the 500cc class. Yamaha introduced a new V4 bike for Kenny Roberts but suffered from...
season, as Goodyear pulled out of motorcycle racing. New competition had arrived as Honda entered their new two-stroke NS500
Honda NS500
The Honda NS500 is a 500cc Grand Prix racing motorcycle of the early 1980s, powered by a two-stroke V3 engine. Created as a replacement for the innovative but unsuccessful four-stroke NR500, the bike went against Honda's preference for four-stroke machines but proved very effective and quickly won...
ridden by defending champion Lucchinelli, former 350 cc world champion, Takazumi Katayama
Takazumi Katayama
Takazumi Katayama is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion. He was the first Japan-based Korean rider to win a motorcycle road racing world championship when he claimed the 1977 350cc title aboard a Yamaha. In 1979 he accepted an offer from Honda to develop their exotic...
and newcomer Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer
Freddie Spencer , known by the nickname Fast Freddie, is an American former World Champion motorcycle racer. Spencer is regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle racers of the early 1980s.-Biography:...
. Roberts won the season-opening round in Argentina
Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix
Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix was the Argentine round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship. The event was held ten times at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez between 1961 and 1999...
on the old square-four Yamaha, but then switched to the new OW61 YZR500
Yamaha YZR500
The YZR500 was the Yamaha Motor Corporation’s entry for 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing between the years of 1973 and 2002.- Successes :...
V4 engine
V4 engine
A V4 engine is a V form engine with four cylinders and three main bearings.-Automobile use:Lancia produced several narrow-angle V4 engines from the 1920s through 1960s for cars like the Lambda, Augusta, Artena, Aprilia, Ardea, Appia, and Fulvia....
d bike. He came in third at the Austrian Grand Prix then, sat out the French Grand Prix at Nogaro
Circuit Paul Armagnac
Circuit Paul Armagnac is a motorsport race track near Nogaro in southwestern France. The track was built in 1960. The venue hosted the French round of the Grand Prix motorcycle road racing world championship in 1978 and 1982, as well as the 2003 round of the FIA Sportscar Championship. It also...
as he and the other top riders boycotted the race over unsafe track conditions. Roberts then won the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama ahead of Sheene, and scored a second place behind Suzuki rider Franco Uncini
Franco Uncini
Franco Uncini is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Career:Uncini was born at Recanati, province of Macerata....
in Holland. In a portent of things to come, Roberts was leading the Belgian Grand Prix when his Dunlop tires lost their grip and he had to settle for fourth place as Spencer went on to win his first Grand Prix for Honda. Roberts then injured his knee and finger at the British Grand Prix and had to miss the Swedish round, but by then the world championship had been claimed by Uncini with a total of five victories while Roberts fell to fourth place. By the end of the 1982 season, Roberts had won sixteen 500 cc Grand Prix races, more than double that of any of his contemporaries.
Roberts versus Spencer
Roberts announced that the 19831983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 1983 battle for 500 cc supremacy between Honda's Freddie Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts would be one of the most dramatic seasons since the 1967 duel between Giacomo...
season would be his final year in Grand Prix competition. Yamaha team manager Giacomo Agostini had been unable to agree on a contract with rider Graeme Crosby
Graeme Crosby
Graeme Crosby is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A supremely versatile rider, Crosby holds the distinction of having won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours, and the Isle of Man TT....
, so AMA Superbike champion Eddie Lawson
Eddie Lawson
Eddie Lawson is a former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His penchant for not crashing & consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".-Biography:...
was brought in as Roberts' new teammate. The 1983 battle for the championship between Roberts and Honda's Spencer would be considered one of the greatest seasons in motorcycle Grand Prix history, along with the 1967 500 cc duel
1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1967 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 19th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix season. The season consisted of thirteen Grand Prix races in six classes: 500cc, 350cc, 250cc, 125cc, 50cc and Sidecars 500cc...
between Mike Hailwood
Mike Hailwood
Stanley Michael Bailey Hailwood, MBE, GM was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer regarded by many as one of the greatest racers of all time. He was known as "Mike The Bike" because of his natural riding ability...
and Giacomo Agostini. Roberts began the season with his YZR500 having problems with overheating and rear suspension, while Spencer started strongly, winning the first three races and five out of the first seven. Roberts was leading the second race in France, when his Yamaha split an expansion chamber
Expansion chamber
An expansion chamber is an exhaust system used on a two-stroke cycle engine to enhance its power output by improving its volumetric efficiency. It makes use of the energy left in the burnt exhaust exiting the cylinder to aid the filling of the cylinder for the next cycle...
causing it to lose power as Spencer won, with Roberts falling to fourth place. In Round 3 at Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....
, Roberts crashed while leading Spencer three laps from the finish. Roberts came back to win the German Grand Prix, but then finished second to Spencer in Spain in a race Spencer called one of the toughest of his career. Things began to go Roberts' way at the Austrian Grand Prix as Roberts won while Spencer's Honda suffered a crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
failure. In the Yugoslavian Grand Prix
Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix
The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:...
, Roberts' Yamaha failed to start immediately, while Spencer charged to an early lead, leaving Roberts to fight through the field to finish in fourth place. Roberts then went on a three-race winning streak with victories in Holland, Belgium and England, while Spencer stayed close with a third place and two second place finishes.
The championship then moved to the penultimate round at the Swedish Grand Prix
1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh event of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden....
with Spencer holding a two point lead over Roberts. Roberts led Spencer going into the last lap of the race. Heading down the back straight, Spencer placed his Honda right behind Roberts' Yamaha as they reached the second to the last corner, a ninety degree right-hander. As both riders applied their brakes, Spencer came out of Roberts' slipstream
Slipstream
A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid is moving at velocities comparable to the moving object . The term slipstream also applies to the similar region adjacent to an object with a fluid moving around it...
and managed to get inside of the Yamaha. As they exited the corner, both riders ran wide off the track and into the dirt. Spencer was able to get back on the track and back on the power first, crossing the finish line just ahead of Roberts for a crucial victory. Roberts considered Spencer's pass to be foolish and dangerous, and exchanged angry words with him on the podium. Roberts would have to win the final round at the San Marino Grand Prix with Spencer finishing no better than third place in order for Roberts to win his fourth world championship. In a fitting end to a great career, Roberts won his last-ever Grand Prix race, however Spencer was able to secure second place to claim the world championship. The two riders dominated the season with each claiming six victories in the 12 race series.
Roberts continued to ride in selected events in 1984. In March, he battled Spencer to win his second consecutive Daytona 200 and third win overall. In July, Roberts won the first leg of the Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca is a paved road racing track used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, originally constructed in 1957 near both Salinas and Monterey, California, USA....
200, then finished second to Randy Mamola in the second leg, as Mamola was declared the winner based on aggregate times. In September, he appeared at the Springfield Mile Grand National dirt track race riding a Mert Lawwill
Mert Lawwill
Mert Lawwill is an American dirt-track and road racer, born on September 25, 1940 in Boise, Idaho.He started his racing career as an amateur racer on the local TT track in Boise and, later, scramble races across the United States Northwest ....
-prepared Harley-Davidson XR750, but failed to make the final.
In July 1985, Roberts won the pole position at the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours
Suzuka 8 Hours
The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. As the name implies, the race runs for eight hours consecutively and teams are composed of two riders and one alternate.-History:...
endurance race
Endurance World Championship
Endurance World Championship is the premier worldwide endurance motorcycle racing championship. The championship season consists of a series of races held on permanent racing facilities. The results of each race are combined to determine two annual World Championships, one for teams and one for...
, held in Japan. Teamed with Tadahiko Taira
Tadahiko Taira
Tadahiko Taira is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from Japan. He was a three-time winner of the All Japan 500cc championship. Taira began his Grand Prix career in 1984 with Yamaha. He enjoyed his best season in 1987 when he finished the season in sixth place overall in the 500cc world...
, the duo were leading the race until the final hour, when mechanical problems dropped them back to seventeenth place. Roberts returned to compete in the 1986 Suzuka 8 Hours, this time teaming up with American Mike Baldwin
Mike Baldwin (motorcyclist)
Mike Baldwin is a former motorcycle road racer. He was a top contender in AMA Superbike racing during the 1980s who also competed in Grand Prix motorcycle racing....
. He qualified second behind Wayne Gardner
Wayne Gardner
Wayne Michael Gardner OAM is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Australian to win motorcycling's premier class...
, but failed to finish the race.
Career statistics
In a 13-year professional racing career, Roberts won two Grand National Championships and three 500 cc world championships including 32 Grand Nationals and 24 Grand Prix road races. He also won the Daytona 200 three times and was a six-time winner of the Laguna Seca 200. He was the second AMA rider after Dick MannDick Mann
Dick Mann is an American motorcycle racer born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a two-time winner of the A.M.A. Grand National Championship. He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1993, and the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998...
to accomplish the Grand Slam of winning all five events of the Grand National Championship.
Race team manager and owner
After his Grand Prix racing career ended in 1983, Roberts briefly considered an auto racing career before deciding to field a Grand Prix team. In 19841984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 36th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Defending champion Freddie Spencer was the pre-season favorite to win the championship however, teething problems with Honda's new V4 and early season injuries squelched his hopes...
, he entered a team into the 250 cc world championship with riders Wayne Rainey
Wayne Rainey
Wayne Wesley Rainey, born in Downey, California, United States, is a former American Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he won the 500cc World Championship three times and the Daytona 200 once. He was characterized by his smooth, calculating riding...
and Alan Carter
Alan Carter (motorcyclist)
Alan Carter is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He competed from 1983 to 1990 in the Grand Prix world championship. Carter won the first Grand Prix race he entered, in the 250cc class at the 1983 250cc French Grand Prix as an eighteen year old, creating a sensation. However, he was never...
using Yamaha bikes. In 1986
1986 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1986 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 38th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:A second world championship for the consistent Eddie Lawson. After a dominating 1985 season, the future looked bright for Honda's Freddie Spencer. However, once the season started,...
he moved up to the 500 cc world championship with riders Randy Mamola and Mike Baldwin. After returning to the United States to compete in the AMA Superbike championship, Wayne Rainey re-joined the team in 1988
1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 40th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Eddie Lawson would recapture the championship from Wayne Gardner in a season that witnessed several fierce duels. Two newcomers joined the Grand Prix circuit with Americans Wayne...
, finishing in third place in his inaugural 500 cc season then, improving to second place behind Eddie Lawson in 1989
1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1989 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 41st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Defending champion Eddie Lawson stunned most observers by switching from the Yamaha to Honda in the offseason then proceeded to win the championship, becoming the first man to win...
. In 1990
1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1990 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 42nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:1990 marked the beginning of the Rainey era with the Marlboro-Yamaha rider taking 7 wins and scoring points in every race but Hungary after he had already clinched the championship...
, Roberts secured the financial support of the Marlboro cigarette company, and his team became the official Yamaha factory racing team. Roberts team riders Rainey and John Kocinski
John Kocinski
John Kocinski is a retired Grand Prix motorcycle road racer whose successes include winning the 1990 250cc World Championship, and the 1997 Superbike World Championship title.-Early years:...
won the 500 cc and 250 cc world championships in 1990, making Roberts the most successful team manager in Grand Prix racing at the time. Rainey went on to win three consecutive 500 cc world championships for Roberts' team. After Rainey was left paralyzed in a crash at the 1993 Italian Grand Prix
1993 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1993 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix was the twelfth race of the 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on September 5, 1993 at the Misano circuit.-500 cc race report:...
, the Roberts team continued racing with Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora
Luca Cadalora is an Italian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion.-Early career:He won the 1986 125cc World Championship on a Garelli and then the 1991 and 1992 250cc World Championship aboard an Erv Kanemoto tuned Honda.-500cc:In 1993 he rose to the blue riband 500cc division...
as their main rider, but struggled during a period dominated by Honda and their rider, Mick Doohan.
In 1997
1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1997 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 49th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:A fourth world championship in a row for Honda's Mick Doohan with another dominating performance. He broke Giacomo Agostini's record for victories in one season with 12 wins. It...
, Roberts stunned the racing world when he left Yamaha after more than 25 years to start his own motorcycle company. Roberts had grown weary of battling over the direction he felt the Yamaha team needed to pursue. Basing his new company in England to take advantage of the Formula 1 industry, Roberts built a three-cylinder, two-stroke engine with the engineering assistance of Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Tom Walkinshaw Racing
Tom Walkinshaw Racing , was an auto racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976 by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw.-History:TWR started by modifying BMW 3.0 CSLs, but soon was contracted to head Mazda's works program in the British Touring Car Championship. The TWR developed RX-7, with Win...
. He decided to take advantage of rules allowing lighter weights for three-cylinder motorcycles after observing the agility and handling advantage of Spencer's Honda NS500 during the 1983 season. Unfortunately, by the time the motorcycle had been developed, tire technology had improved to the point where any advantage over four-cylinder
Four-cylinder engine
A four-cylinder engine is an internal combustion engine with four cylinders. There are four common configurations:* Inline-four engine* V4 engine* Flat-four engine...
bikes had been negated. The motorcycle did manage to win a pole position
Pole position
The term "pole position", as used in motorsports, comes from the horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole. The term made its way, along with several other customs, to auto racing. In circuit motorsports, a driver has pole position when he or she...
with rider Jeremy McWilliams
Jeremy McWilliams
Jeremy McWilliams , is a motorcycle road racer. Until Scott Redding's win at the 2008 125cc British Grand Prix, he remained the only British rider to win a race or pole in an FIM MotoGP World Championship class in the 2000s.For 2007, he was to race in the MotoGP series for the Ilmor team, despite a...
taking the top qualifying position at the 2002 Australian Grand Prix
2002 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2002 Australian motorcycle Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 2002 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 18–20 October 2002 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.-MotoGP classification:-250cc classification:...
against the new breed of 990 cc four-stroke MotoGP motorcycles.
With the introduction of the MotoGP class in 2002
2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 54th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. The season consist of 16 races, which started with the Japanese Grand Prix on 7 April and ended with the Valencian Community Grand Prix on 3 November....
, Roberts' team developed a five-cylinder bike called the KR5. The team was originally well-funded by Proton
Proton (company)
Proton is a Malaysian automobile manufacturer headquartered in Subang Jaya and Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, with a manufacturing plant in Tanjung Malim, Perak. Founded in 1983, it was Malaysia's only carmaker until the establishment of its competitor and arch-rival, Perodua, in 1993...
of Malaysia, but by the middle of the 2004
2004 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2004 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 56th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season.-Season summary:At the end of 2003, HRC and Valentino Rossi had parted ways, and HRC held Rossi to the letter of their contract which stipulated he could not ride another manufacturer's machine...
season, it became apparent that the Roberts team wasn't able to field an engine capable of competing with the dominant Japanese factories. Roberts turned to the KTM
KTM
KTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and moped manufacturer.The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz in Mattighofen. It started out as a metal working shop and was named Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen...
factory to provide engines for the 2005
2005 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2005 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 57th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 2005 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season began on April 10 at Jerez and closing on November 6 at Valencia...
season, however after ten races KTM abruptly withdrew their support on the eve of the Czech Republic Grand Prix
2005 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2005 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh round of the 2005 MotoGP Championship. It took place on the weekend of 26 -August 28, 2005 at the Masaryk Circuit located in Brno, Czech Republic.-MotoGP classification:-250cc classification:...
, forcing the team to miss several races. Honda stepped in to help Roberts' team for the 2006
2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2006 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 58th F.I.M. Road racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 2006 MotoGP season was one of the closest battles and most thrilling in recent memory in which Honda's Nicky Hayden didn't claim the championship from Valentino Rossi until the...
season by providing five-cylinder engines, as Robert's son, Kenny Roberts, Jr., rode the Team Roberts KR211V
Team Roberts KR211V
The KR211V is a racing motorcycle developed by Kenny Roberts' MotoGP team, Team Roberts, and uses the 990 cc V5 engine from the Honda RC211V bike. It was created to compete in the 2006 MotoGP series and was piloted by Kenny Roberts, Jr., the first son of Kenny Roberts.- External links :* ...
bike to a sixth place in the championship including two podium results. The 2007
2007 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2007 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 59th F.I.M Road Racing World Championship season. The 2007 season was significant as it introduced a new regulation which specifies that competitors in the MotoGP class can use up to 800 cc motorcycles; between 2002 and 2006, competitors had...
season saw the introduction of a new MotoGP engine formula using 800 cc four-stroke engines. Roberts would once again secure engines from Honda for the Team Roberts KR212V race bike, but the results were not as hoped, and funding for the team faded. After the 2007 season, Roberts pulled out of MotoGP competition due to the lack of sponsorship.
Legacy
Roberts' riding style where he forced the motorcycle's rear wheel to break traction to steer around a corner, essentially riding on paved surfaces as if they were dirt tracks, changed the way Grand Prix motorcycles were ridden. From 19831983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 1983 battle for 500 cc supremacy between Honda's Freddie Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts would be one of the most dramatic seasons since the 1967 duel between Giacomo...
to 1999
1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1999 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 51st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The dominant reign of Honda's Mick Doohan came to an end with serious injuries suffered in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. In his absence, his Honda team-mate Àlex Crivillé...
, every 500 cc world championship was won by a rider with a dirt track racing background. Roberts' cornering method of hanging off the motorcycles with his knee extended forced him to use duct tape as knee pads, and eventually led to the introduction of purpose-built knee pucks used by all motorcycle road racers today. His battles with the Grand Prix establishment eventually led to the adoption of stricter safety standards for Grand Prix race organizers. He was one of the first riders to challenge the FIM over the way they treated competitors and helped improve prize money as well as the professionalism of the sport. It was not until Roberts planned his rival race series in 1980 that the FIM was forced to change the way in which they dealt with motorcycle racers.
Throughout his career, Roberts has been a strong proponent of raising the image of motorcycle racing among the general public. During his riding career, he made a point of returning to the United States during the mid-season break in the Grand Prix calendar to race in the Laguna Seca 200 as a way to increase the profile of the event in order for it to gain Grand Prix status. The race eventually attained Grand Prix status in 1988
1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1988 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 40th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Eddie Lawson would recapture the championship from Wayne Gardner in a season that witnessed several fierce duels. Two newcomers joined the Grand Prix circuit with Americans Wayne...
and in 1993
1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 45th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Kevin Schwantz won the 1993 world championship in a season marred by the tragic end to his rival Wayne Rainey's career. Schwantz started the season strong with four wins by the...
, Roberts took on the role of promoter, providing financial backing for the 1993 United States Grand Prix
1993 United States motorcycle Grand Prix
The 1993 United States motorcycle Grand Prix was the penultimate round of the 1993 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It took place on 12th September, 1993 at Laguna Seca.-500 cc race report:...
. In the 1990s when Grand Prix racing faced diminishing numbers of competitors due to increasing costs, Roberts demanded that Yamaha provide engines to privateer teams in order to bolster the numbers of racers.
Roberts' son, Kenny Roberts, Jr., won the 2000
2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season
The 2000 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 52nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Kenny Roberts, Jr. fulfilled the promise of his 2nd place in 1999 by winning the championship for 2000 with 2 races to spare...
500 cc World Championship, making them the only father and son duo to have won the title. Ironically, Roberts has stated that he considers himself a dirt tracker at heart and only took up road racing because it was necessary to do so if a rider was going to compete for the Grand National championship. He also said that he would have preferred to remain in the United States to compete in the Grand National championship if Yamaha or another manufacturer had been able to construct a dirt track racer capable of competing with Harley-Davidson.
Honors
- Inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaMotorsports Hall of Fame of AmericaThe Motorsports Hall of Fame of America is a Hall of Fame and museum for American motorsports legends. It was originally located in Novi, Michigan and it moved to the Detroit Science Center in 2009.-Museum:...
in 1990. - Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of FameInternational Motorsports Hall of FameThe International Motorsports Hall of Fame is a Hall of Fame dedicated to enshrining those who have contributed the most to auto racing either as a driver, owner, developer or engineer...
in 1992. - Inducted into the AMAAmerican Motorcyclist AssociationThe American Motorcyclist Association is an American not-for-profit organization of more than 300,000 motorcyclists that organizes numerous motorcycling activities and campaigns for motorcyclists' legal rights...
Motorcycle Hall of FameMotorcycle Hall of FameThe Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association that recognizes individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction and motorcycling in general. It displays motorcycles and riding gear and memoribilia. The museum is located in...
in 1998. - The FIMFédération Internationale de MotocyclismeThe Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme is the governing body of motorcycle racing. It represents 103 national motorcycle federations that are divided into six regional continental unions....
named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.
Motorcycle Grand Prix results
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Points | Rank | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1974 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 26th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:MV Agusta and Phil Read claimed a second successive 500cc crown. It would be the Italian firm's last world championship and their seventeenth 500cc title in a row. Giacomo Agostini... |
250 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... - |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... - |
IOM Isle of Man TT The International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world... - |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 3 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... - |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... - |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... - |
CZE Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix The Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Before 1993, the race was known as the Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix... - |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... - |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... - |
10 | 19th | 0 | |||
| 1978 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1978 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 30th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:There was an air of excitement at the start of the 1978 Grand Prix season. The popularity of defending champion, Barry Sheene had boosted the appeal of motorcycle racing into the... |
250 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
VEN Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix The Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1977 to 1979,-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 1 |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 2 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 2 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... - |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 1 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... - |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... - |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... - |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... - |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... - |
CZE Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix The Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Before 1993, the race was known as the Czechoslovakian motorcycle Grand Prix... - |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... - |
54 | 4th | 2 | |
| 500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
VEN Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix The Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1977 to 1979,-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... - |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 2 |
AUT Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:... 1 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 1 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... 1 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 2 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 2 |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... 7 |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... DNF |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... 1 |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... 3 |
110 | 1st | 4 | |||
| 1979 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1979 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 31st F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:A season of changing fortunes in the 500cc class saw American, Kenny Roberts capture his second crown in the face of the Suzuki-mounted opposition. In the 50cc class, Eugenio... |
500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
VEN Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix The Venezuelan motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1977 to 1979,-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... - |
AUT Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:... 1 |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... 2 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... 1 |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 1 |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... 1 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 8 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... DNS |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... 4 |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... 6 |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... 1 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 3 |
113 | 1st | 5 | |
| 1980 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 32nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Yamaha's Kenny Roberts claimed his third successive 500cc world championship in a season shortened by the cancellations of the Venezuelan and Austrian rounds. Randy Mamola took... |
500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... 1 |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 1 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 1 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... DNF |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 3 |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... 2 |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... 2 |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... 4 |
87 | 1st | 3 | |||||
| 1981 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1981 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 33rd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Suzuki riders Marco Lucchinelli and Randy Mamola battled it out to the final race of the season with the Italian rider claiming the crown and Mamola finishing runner-up for the... |
500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
AUT Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:... DNF |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... 1 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... 1 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 5 |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... 3 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... DNS |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 2 |
RSM DNS |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... 2 |
FIN Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix Finnish motorcycle Grand Prix was the Finnish round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship from 1962 to 1982. It was held at the Tampere Circuit in 1962 and 1963 before moving to Imatra. Giacomo Agostini won the most Finnish Grands Prix with ten 500cc victories and seven 350cc... 7 |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... DNF |
74 | 3rd | 2 | ||
| 1982 1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1982 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 34th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Italian Franco Uncini on the Roberto Gallina backed Suzuki took a well-earned championship in the 500cc class. Yamaha introduced a new V4 bike for Kenny Roberts but suffered from... |
500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
ARG Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix was the Argentine round of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing championship. The event was held ten times at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez between 1961 and 1999... 1 |
AUT Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:... 3 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... DNS |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 1 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... 4 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 2 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 4 |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... DNS |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... DNS |
SWE Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season in various stints from 1958 to 1990.-Winners of the Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... DNS |
RSM DNS |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... DNS |
68 | 4th | 2 | |
| 1983 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season The 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 35th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:The 1983 battle for 500 cc supremacy between Honda's Freddie Spencer and Yamaha's Kenny Roberts would be one of the most dramatic seasons since the 1967 duel between Giacomo... |
500 cc | Yamaha Yamaha Motor Company , is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized... |
RSA South African motorcycle Grand Prix The South African motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship, held intermittently from 1983 to 2004.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 2 |
FRA French motorcycle Grand Prix The Grand Prix Monster Energy de France is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season.-Winners of the French motorcycle Grand Prix:... 4 |
NAT Italian motorcycle Grand Prix The Italian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. From 1949 to 1990 the event was known as the Nations Grand Prix. It was one of the original rounds of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar. The race was held exclusively at Monza... DNF |
GER German motorcycle Grand Prix The German motorcycle Grand Prix, first held in 1925, is since 1952 part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Championship.- History :The first two Großer Preis von Deutschland races were held at Berlin's AVUS before moving to the new the purpose-built Nürburgring which was used in its full... 1 |
ESP Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix The Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. In addition to this event, three other motorcycling events take place in Spain as of the 2010 season: the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix, the Aragon motorcycle Grand Prix and the... 2 |
AUT Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix The Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix was a motorcycling event that had been part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1971 to 1997-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:Footnotes:... 1 |
YUG Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix The Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1970 to 1990,-Winners of the Yugoslavian motorcycle Grand Prix:-References:... 4 |
NED Dutch TT The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP... 1 |
BEL Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:... 1 |
GBR British motorcycle Grand Prix The British motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that is part of the World Motorcycle Racing season. Before 1977, the British Grand Prix was the Isle of Man TT, held there from 1949-1976.-Winners of the British motorcycle Grand Prix:... 1 |
SWE 1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix The 1983 Swedish motorcycle Grand Prix was the eleventh event of the 1983 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp, Sweden.... 2 |
RSM 1 |
142 | 2nd | 6 | |
External links
- Team Roberts official site for the MotoGP team
- Kenny Roberts' Yamaha TZ750 dirt track motorcycle at the A.M.A. Motorcycle Hall of Fame
- Kenny Roberts' Swan Song?, by Dave Despain, American Motorcyclist Magazine, July 1984
- A Thriller At Silverstone - Sports Illustrated, August 20, 1979
- 1979 British Grand Prix on You Tube Part 1
- 1979 British Grand Prix on You Tube Part 2
- 1979 British Grand Prix on You Tube Part 3
- 1979 British Grand Prix on You Tube Part 4