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 Interview:
Kurtis Roberts Talks
At the end of 2003 at Virginia International Raceway Kurtis Roberts
finally earned his first AMA Superbike win in his 34th-career
race. Some believe when Roberts finally won that race the flood
gates would open and he would go on to become the rider to beat
in AMA Superbike racing.
Roberts proved his VIR victory was no fluke by winning the final
round of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. Many anticipated
a showdown between Roberts and Mat Mladin in 2004, but it was
not to be. Roberts was determined to chase his dream of racing
MotoGP even if it meant racing on his father's uncompetitive
Proton Grand Prix squad.
Roberts' high hopes of bringing his dad's team to prominence
hit the wall of reality with a slew of injuries and persistent
problems with the Proton. Roberts scored just a single world
championship point in 2004 and even before the season was over
he fired his management group and began putting out feelers for
other rides.
At the eleventh hour a deal was struck with Erion Honda. The
agreement came so late that Roberts missed the Daytona tire tests,
but he's set to ride the Honda CBR1000RR Superbike and CBR600RR
Formula Xtreme bikes for the first time this week at California
Speedway.
We caught up with Roberts while he was putting in strenuous miles
on his indoor training bike readying for the 2005 campaign.
As you'll be able to tell from this interview a humbling season
in MotoGP hasn't put a single dent in Roberts' famous self-confidence.
Q: Kurtis it's going to be good to have you back racing
in America. How did the ride with Erion Honda come together?
A: It was an ongoing thing. Kevin [Erion] and I have been
talking for a while. When it came down to it there was an offer
for Ben [Bostrom] to ride for Kevin's team, but he wanted to
go back to Europe and I wanted to come back here so it worked
out. Finally I signed a few weeks ago.
Q: When will you get your first chance to ride the '05
Hondas?
A: Coming up at California Speedway.
Q: How do you think your style of riding will go with
the inline four Superbike versus the V-Twins you rode a couple
of years ago?
A: It will be much better for sure. I have so much experience
with the old Honda [CBR954RR] Xtreme bike and the Supersport
bikes that it should be no problem adapting to the new superbike.
I was never excited about the twin. The first superbike I rode
was the RC45 and I would have taken that any day of the week
over the RC51.
Q: With the way you closed out your 2003 season here,
many people think that you could be the top contender to dethrone
Mat Mladin this year. How do you think Honda would deal with
one of its support team riders beating its factory superbike
guys?
A: I don't know, but if they have a problem with it they're
going to have to figure out something to do. As far as I'm concerned
I was Mladin's biggest competitor when I was here last and there's
no reason it shouldn't be the same now. If they have a problem
with it then they don't want to win races. The bikes the guys
[Honda's factory riders] rode last year were definitely better
than the bike I rode in '03, so
Q: Do you think the Erion Superbike will be equal to the
factory bike?
A: I would hope so. You can never be completely sure,
but I have won them three
championships and last time I was home
I was the highest placing superbike rider for them in the series.
I should have won a lot more superbike races than I did, but
it doesn't work out like that all the time. Kevin's bike is still
a Honda. They're still getting the press. It's not like they
have a sponsor on the side of that [factory] Honda who's going
to get upset about it, because it's Honda.
Q: You find yourself in a very good position to win the
Daytona 200 this year, especially with the change to Formula
Xtreme rules for the race. What would that mean to you to follow
in your dad's footsteps to win that race?
A: Yeah that would be great. There's going to a big question
in my mind just who is going to have an advantage there with
the new rules and everything. The new rules have sort of thrown
a big wrench in the thing, but we'll see what happens.
Q: Do you think Miguel and Jake will have a big advantage
since they have a year on the Formula Xtreme 600s?
A: No. The last time I raced a 600 at Daytona I know who
won it. I don't want to seem too cocky, but the race was definitely
my race from the start it seemed to me. They've had a year on
the bike, but I only rode 12 laps at Daytona on the bike that
I won the 600 race on in 2003, so I'm not worried about that
at all. There's no big trick in riding them. They're still a
four-cylinder and a 600. It's not like a twin that's completely
different.
Q: How are you physically going into the season?
A: (Pauses) Yeah, I'll be fine. I am fine I should say.
We all have our aches and pains I guess, but I'm not too worried
about my physical fitness.
Good luck with the upcoming tests and we'll see you at Daytona.
OK talk to you later.
(courtesy AMA)
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