From a press release issued by Proton Team KR:
Kurtis Signs
Kurtis Roberts joins Proton Team KR
Kurtis Joins Proton Team KR to Continue Roberts GP Dynasty
Kurtis Roberts – second son of legendary triple champion Kenny Roberts – will race for his father in the MotoGP World Championship in 2004, joining established Proton Team KR rider Nobuatsu Aoki for the two-man assault on the 16-race calendar.
Kurtis and the team reached final agreement this week, after the 25-year-old ex-AMA Superbike race winner tested the all-independent Proton KR V5 machine at Valencia late last year.
His first outing on a 990cc MotoGP machine showed he has inherited all the family talent to surprise and impress. The younger of the racing Roberts brothers set a faster lap time than the howling four-stroke had run at the GP only a few weeks earlier.
It is a return to GP racing for Kurtis, who campaigned a privateer 250 in 1997, at the age of 18.
Kurtis raced in the USA thereafter, winning three AMA titles (SuperSport 600 and twice Formula Xtreme) by the age of 21. Moving to the AMA Superbike class, he won two races last year on the way to a second successive top-three championship finish.
“I’m very excited about MotoGP. It’s like going home for me – the tracks, the people and the atmosphere. It’s where I grew up, and it’s where every racer wants to be,” said the son of a legend.
“I was very happy with the bike at Valencia tests. It seems like a good starting point. It’s very neutral, and doesn’t do anything funny. It’s obvious we can go round the race-track fast. We don’t go down the straightaway nearly as fast as I’d like to yet, but that’s getting better all the time,” he said.
For Kenny Roberts, this is the second time he has had the extra burden of a son in his racing team. Kenny Junior raced for his father on a Yamaha, and then on the 500 two-stroke Modenas KR3. The first GP motorcycle made by the then-new GP Motorsports Corporation in Banbuy in England.
“Little Kenny” went on to win the 500cc World Championship in 2000, riding a Suzuki.
Kenny Senior reflected on the “good and bad sides” of his latest signing.
“We needed a younger and more aggressive rider, and Kurtis is one of those guys, on a very short list. The down side is that he is my son, and I am responsible for the equipment he will race. That puts a lot more pressure on me.
“One thing is we’re a much better company now than when Kenny rode our bike. That gives me more confidence – I know we are a lot more capable now than we were then.
“Kurtis is a very talented kid, and he is maturing very quickly. When you have talent and once you get maturity you’re ready for GP racing. He will have to up his game. When I came to Europe, I also had to get faster. That happens when you come into an arena with more and better competition.
“I think he’s ready for it, as Nicky Hayden was ready,” concluded Kenny.
Kurtis will have the benefit of a highly experienced team-mate in the popular Japanese star Nobu Aoki, who agreed terms with Proton Team KR earlier in January for a third year with the team. Aoki raced the first KR V5 prototype in 2003, claiming the all-new machine’s first championship points.
In 2004, the pair will compete on the second-generation Proton KR V5. The original engine, fully designed in house, has been upgraded, and an all-new chassis incorporating techniques and forward thinking direct from F1 racing will take the project another step forward for its second season.