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American motorcycle racer

Kenneth Leroy Roberts (born December 31, 1951) is an American former professional motorcycle racer and racing team owner. In 1978, he became the first American to win a Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championship. He was also a two time 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, a safety advocate, a racing team owner, and as a motorcycle engine and chassis constructor. His dirt track based riding style changed the way Grand Prix motorcycles were ridden. In 2000, Roberts was named a Grand Prix Legend by the FIM. He is also the father of 2000 Grand Prix world champion Kenny Roberts Jr.

Kenny Roberts was born to Alice and Melton "Buster" Roberts in Modesto, California. As a child growing up in the rural agriculture area just off highway 132 near the West side vineyards of E & J Gallo Winery, 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 track 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 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.

Realizing that Roberts needed more help if his racing career was going to progress, Aksland 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 motorcycles. Carruthers ended his riding career after the 1973 season to concentrate full time on maintaining and tuning Roberts' motorcycles while mentoring him in the AMA Grand National Championship, while Doyle remained as his business manager. In his second professional race as a rookie 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 XS650 motorcycle, making up for his lack of horsepower with sheer determination. He finished the season ranked fourth in the country.

In 1972, Jarno Saarinen was considered one of the top road racers in the world, having challenged the previously dominant Giacomo Agostini for the 350cc world championship. At the end of the 1972 world championship season, Saarinen traveled to America to compete in the season ending Champion Spark Plug Classic AMA sanctioned race held at the Ontario Motor Speedway. Roberts observed Saarinen's riding style where he shifted his body weight towards the inside of a turn. 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. He tried Saarinen's 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. Yamaha motorcycles performed very well in road racing, where the Yamaha TZ750 was the dominant motorcycle of the era.

In 1973, in just his second season as an expert, Roberts won the AMA Grand National Championship. Despite his Yamaha dirt track motorcycle lacking the horsepower of the Harley Davidson team, he won three races and consistently finished among the top ten, amassing a record 2,014 points in the 25 race series. In April 1974, Roberts ventured to Europe for the first time to compete in the prestigious Imola 200 road race for 750 cc motorcycles where, he made a positive impression competing against the best road racers in the world. Wearing the trademark bumble bee yellow and black racing livery of the Yamaha USA team, Roberts took the lead at the start of the race with Agostini in second place. He began to build his lead over Agostini until his tires began to lose their adhesion, forcing him to reduce his speed and, eventually allowing Agostini to overtake him for the victory. Although Roberts finished second to Agostini once again, his first European racing experience left a deep impression on him as, he marveled at the size of crowds and the warmth of the Italian fans. Roberts' first European performance also left an impression on European race fans, as, few had ever witnessed a Grand Prix motorcycle sliding its rear tire, in a bucking bronco manner as it sought to regain traction. Italian journalists labelled him "Il Marciano", or the Martian due to his small stature, his bright yellow riding suit and his seemingly otherworldly riding abilities. 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. Following his success at Imola and the Transatlantic Trophy match races earlier that year, Roberts returned to Europe to make his road racing world championship debut in a one off appearance in the 250cc class at the Dutch TT on June 29, 1974. Against the world's top competitors, Roberts claimed pole position during qualifying then, broke Mike Hailwood's seven year old lap record while pursuing race leader and eventual world champion Walter Villa. Roberts eventually crashed but, recovered to finish on the podium with a third place finish.

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 1978 to compete in the World Championship Grand Prix road racing series, along with Kel Carruthers to act as his mentor and crew chief. At first, Roberts resisted the move to racing in Europe as, he felt that he had left unfinished business racing against the Harley Davidson team in the AMA Grand National Championship but, realized that Yamaha didn't have a competitive dirt track motorcycle. Before going to Europe, Roberts met with executives of the Goodyear tire company and secured financial backing and as well as a tire supplier for his upcoming world championship campaign. Roberts did just the opposite, braking early then, quickly applying the throttle which resulted in the rear tire breaking traction and spinning. 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 on the starting line. The championship then moved to Europe where Roberts would experience his first encounter with FIM bureaucracy at the Spanish Grand Prix. The promoter of the Spanish Grand Prix, Don Nicolás Rodil del Valle, was also the president of the FIM. Roberts began to realize that many of the world championship race promoters were connected to the FIM ruling body, an arrangement that left little incentive to make safety improvements to the race circuits. Roberts was accustomed to racing in the AMA where competitors could rely on an AMA referee to ensure that race promoters provided a safe venue however, competitors racing in the FIM world championships were provided no such recourse. When Roberts arrived at the 1978 Spanish Grand Prix, he was denied entry into the 500cc race. As Roberts had withdrawn from the previous Grand Prix in Venezuela, Spanish race promoters claimed to have no record of Roberts' previous 500cc class experience. The thought that race organizers feigned having no knowledge of the Yamaha factory sponsored American champion incensed Roberts, who felt that the FIM was trying to exert their authority on the newcomer. At the 1978 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 seventh place in the 500 cc race. Eventually, Roberts was declared the winner with Sheene being awarded third place behind privateer Steve Manship, who did not stop for a tire change. The final race of the season was the German Grand Prix held at the daunting, 14.2 mile (23 km) long Nürburgring racetrack, considered too dangerous for the Formula One championship. Roberts broke the unofficial lap record during practice then qualified second and 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.

The 1979 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. An angered Roberts went on to win the race, and then proceeded to the podium where he refused to accept the winner's trophy, telling the promoters that they should melt their trophy and sell it in order to help pay the competitors' expenses. Roberts' act was merely a symbolic protest as, the FIM felt no compulsion to change the status quo, however his act of standing up to the FIM's shoddy treatment resonated loudly among his fellow competitors and signaled a break from the old ways, galvanizing them into taking action to further rider demands for increased safety. 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. The FIM later reduced this to another probation. 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. Roberts ended the season with a victory at the prestigious Mallory Park Race of the Year. 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 in front of tens of thousands of paying spectators for as little prize money as $200, at venues such as the Imatra Circuit in Finland that featured railroad crossings and hay bales wrapped around telephone poles. Rather than suitable financial compensation for risking their lives, race organizers expected riders to race for prestige and the opportunity to compete for world championship points. 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. He followed that the next evening with a third place in the Houston short track national. For the 1980 Grand Prix season, the Yamaha factory made the Yamaha USA team of Roberts and Carruthers the de facto factory racing team. Roberts' bike had a suspension failure in the Grand Prix season opening Austrian Grand Prix, but he rebounded to win the next two races in Germany and Italy. He came back to score a second place behind Lucchinelli in the Belgian Grand Prix, but was once again struck by misfortune when a bad case of food poisoning forced him to miss the San Marino Grand Prix. 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. With Roberts injured, Yamaha allowed his teammate Graeme Crosby a chance to ride the V4 Yamaha during practice for the season ending German Grand Prix however, the New Zealand rider declared that the experience had taken years off his life. 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 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. In Round 3 at Monza, Roberts crashed while leading Spencer three laps from the finish. 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. 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. 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 1985, 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.

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 was the second AMA rider after Dick Mann to accomplish the Grand Slam of winning all five events of the Grand National Championship.

After his Grand Prix racing career ended in 1983, Roberts briefly considered an auto racing career before deciding to field a Grand Prix team. 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. 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 was not 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 Roberts' 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.

Roberts' riding style in which 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. 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 number of racers. Inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1992. Inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998. The FIM named him a Grand Prix "Legend" in 2000.