When Kenny Roberts Jr. won the FIM 500cc Grand Prix World Championship in 2000, he did something that no other premier-class Grand Prix motorcycle road racer had ever done. He became the one and only son of a former 500cc GP World Champion to ever win a title. Oh, there have been sons who’ve followed their fathers into motorcycle road racing’s blue-ribbon class, but only Kenny Roberts Jr. reached the pinnacle just like his father did.
A few years later, when Kenny Jr.’s father had transitioned from a motorcycle road racer, to a motorcycle race team owner, to a motorcycle racebike designer and creator, KRJR joined KR on Team Roberts as one of his father’s riders.
In 2006, Team Roberts did the almost unimaginable. After being approached by Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), Kenny Roberts the elder and his topnotch staff of brilliant engineers, designers, and motorcycle road racing elite (some of whom also had vast experience in Formula One auto racing) created the KR211V, a prototype MotoGP road racer equipped with a five-cylinder—a V5, no less—four-stroke engine provided by HRC themselves.
Aboard the Team Roberts KR211V, Kenny Roberts Jr. completed the 17-round MotoGP season sixth overall in championship points, with podium finishes in Spain and Portugal. Team Roberts’ development work with the Honda-powered bike actually made Kenny Jr. a de facto teammate of fellow American Nicky Hayden, and they contributed to Hayden’s successful effort in winning the 2006 MotoGP Championship.
MotoAmerica Content Manager Sean Bice conducted a lively and informative question-and-answer session with Kenny Jr. in front of an audience of the Barber Motorsports Museum’s key supporters. It was a special event, and MotoAmerica recorded it for you to enjoy. So, please, click the play button above, and check out the video in its entirety.
