Joe Roberts (motorcyclist)
American motorcycle racer (born 1997)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joe Roberts (born June 16, 1997) is an American professional motorcycle racer.[1][2] Roberts competes in the FIM Moto2 World Championship with OnlyFans American Racing Team aboard a Kalex chassis bike.[3]
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Malibu, California, United States
| Joe Roberts | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roberts at the 2026 German Grand Prix | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 16, 1997 Malibu, California, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | OnlyFans American Racing Team | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Career
Early career
Roberts' introduction to motorcycles was at a young age. He first rode a 50 cc motorcycle just shy of his fourth birthday. Roberts's earliest competition was in youth flat track and Supermoto.[1] From there he transitioned to mini-road racing on kart tracks and then to full sized tracks on a Honda RS125. He competed successfully for two seasons in the USGPRU (United States Grand Prix Racer's Union) finishing third in points in 125GP in 2010. At the end of 2010, he was invited to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup try-outs for the 2011 season and was one of 12 selected from 100 applicants.
Roberts spent three seasons[4] (2011–2013) with the Red Bull Rookies. In his first season, he recorded a win and a track record at Brno,[5] a track he had never seen before. He improved his results in 2012 with best finishes of second, fourth, fifth[5] and was one of very few riders to be invited back for a third year in 2013 to ride the new KTM Moto3 bike. Roberts showed good promise on the 4 stroke machine leading races in Jerez, Brno and Silverstone but some bad luck saw him fail to finish a number of races which lowered his final standing. That same year, just six days after his 16th birthday, he competed back in the US in the AMA aboard a Honda CBR600RR, recording a sensational double win at Barber Motorsports,[6] setting a record for the youngest win in AMA Pro Road racing. He won again at Laguna Seca and scored another double win at Miller Motorsports Park,[7] thereby scoring five wins from the five AMA races he entered.
In 2014, Roberts returned full-time to the US to ride for Team Hammer[8] in AMA Daytona Sportbike on a Honda CBR600RR. However, the combination of an uncompetitive package and some injuries meant he wasn't able to continue his run of success from 2013. For 2015, Roberts returned to his winning ways aboard a Yamaha R6 in the new AMA/FIM MotoAmerica Stock600 class with nine wins and a second from 11 starts, sealing the championship at Laguna Seca,[9] before the final round of the series at New Jersey, where he moved up to the Supersport class.[10] There, he dominated practice and qualifying, had a runaway victory in Race 1 and finished a close second in Race 2. He finished third in Superprestigio in Las Vegas at the end of the year. 2016 saw him compete in AMA/MotoAmerica Supersport[11] on a Yamaha R6 where he climbed the podium three times and scored three pole positions. He was unfortunately forced to miss several races due to injury.[12]
Moto2 World Championship
AGR Team (2017)
2017
In 2017, Roberts returned to Europe[13] to compete in the FIM CEV Moto2 class with the AGRteam. Mid-year due to his strong performance on the Kalex machine, he was invited by AGR to join the World Championship Moto2[14] team and made a sensational debut in Brno coming from 29th on the grid to finish tenth[15] in his first race at the world level.
NTS RW Racing GP (2018)
2018
In 2018, Roberts competed in Moto2 riding for NTS Racing GP.
American Racing (2019–2020)
2019
From 2019 season, Roberts rode for American Racing.
2020
In 2020, Roberts qualified on pole position at the opening round of the season, becoming the first American rider to do so since Ben Spies at the 2010 Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix and the first one in Moto2 since Kenny Noyes at the 2010 French motorcycle Grand Prix. He finished the race in fourth, after never having finished better than 13th over the previous two seasons. He would qualify for pole again in the fourth round and finished the race in third, becoming the first American rider on the podium since Spies at the 2011 Valencian Community motorcycle Grand Prix and the first in mid class since John Kocinski at the 1993 Dutch TT. A documentary was made by Dorna following Roberts and American Racing titled Behind The Stars And Stripes.
After the 2020 season, Roberts was seen as a hot commodity in the Grand Prix World Championship. Roberts was offered not only deals with multiple front running teams on the Moto2 grid but was even offered a MotoGP ride with Aprilia to partner Aleix Espargaro in 2021, a move that was endorsed not only by Roberts manager and American Racing team principal Eitan Butbul but also his mentor John Hopkins and was even endorsed by Espargaro himself.[16][17]
Italtrans Racing Team (2021–2023)
2021
Roberts ultimately declined the offer to move up to MotoGP for Aprilia upon consulting with Ducati rider Andrea Dovizioso and instead chose to race for Italtrans Racing Team, whom Moto2 series champion Enea Bastianini raced for before moving up to MotoGP himself.[18][19]
Italtrans Racing announced on September 27, 2021, that they had resigned Roberts for another season.[20] Roberts suffered a broken collarbone at Misano on October 22, 2021, and underwent surgery the following Tuesday, forcing him to miss the last two rounds of the 2021 season.[21]
Return to American Racing (2024)
American Racing Team announced a deal with Roberts for the 2024 Moto2 season. The Malibu rider returned to the team that led him to make his debut in the world championship, now with content subscription service OnlyFans as a big sponsor.[22][23]
Career statistics
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | SPA1 12 |
SPA2 9 |
POR1 11 |
POR2 5 |
GBR1 16 |
GBR2 14 |
NED1 13 |
NED2 15 |
ITA 16 |
GER1 17 |
GER2 Ret |
CZE1 1 |
CZE2 12 |
RSM 13 |
12th | 65 | |
| 2012 | SPA1 7 |
SPA2 Ret |
POR1 9 |
POR2 5 |
GBR1 11 |
GBR2 12 |
NED1 4 |
NED2 12 |
GER1 13 |
GER2 11 |
CZE1 11 |
CZE2 2 |
RSM 12 |
ARA1 8 |
ARA2 13 |
9th | 101 |
| 2013 | AME1 NC |
AME2 Ret |
JER1 7 |
JER2 10 |
ASS1 5 |
ASS2 9 |
SAC1 Ret |
SAC2 11 |
BRN 4 |
SIL1 Ret |
SIL2 Ret |
MIS 7 |
ARA1 Ret |
ARA2 Ret |
14th | 60 |
FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
MotoAmerica Superbike Championship
By season
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Moto2 | Kalex | AGR Team | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 30th |
| 2018 | Moto2 | NTS | NTS RW Racing GP | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 27th |
| 2019 | Moto2 | KTM | American Racing | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 28th |
| 2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | American Racing | 15 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 94 | 7th |
| 2021 | Moto2 | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 13th |
| 2022 | Moto2 | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | 20 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 131 | 9th |
| 2023 | Moto2 | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 93.5 | 13th |
| 2024 | Moto2 | Kalex | OnlyFans American Racing Team | 15 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 153 | 9th |
| 2025 | Moto2 | Kalex | OnlyFans American Racing Team | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 97 | 14th |
| 2026 | Moto2 | Kalex | OnlyFans American Racing Team | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36* | 14th* |
| Total | 159 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 678.5 | ||||
By class
| Class | Seasons | 1st GP | 1st pod | 1st win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moto2 | 2017–present | 2017 Czech Republic | 2020 Czech Republic | 2022 Portugal | 159 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 678.5 | 0 |
| Total | 2017–present | 159 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 678.5 | 0 | |||
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | CZE 10 |
AUT 19 |
GBR 21 |
RSM Ret |
ARA 26 |
JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | 30th | 6 | ||||
| 2018 | Moto2 | NTS | QAT 25 |
ARG 25 |
AME 23 |
SPA Ret |
FRA 19 |
ITA 14 |
CAT 22 |
NED 21 |
GER 22 |
CZE 18 |
AUT 19 |
GBR C |
RSM 16 |
ARA 24 |
THA 13 |
JPN 18 |
AUS 18 |
MAL 18 |
VAL Ret |
27th | 5 | |||
| 2019 | Moto2 | KTM | QAT 22 |
ARG 22 |
AME Ret |
SPA 20 |
FRA 14 |
ITA Ret |
CAT 20 |
NED 14 |
GER 25 |
CZE DNS |
AUT 21 |
GBR 22 |
RSM 16 |
ARA 30 |
THA Ret |
JPN 18 |
AUS 16 |
MAL 19 |
VAL 18 |
28th | 4 | |||
| 2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 4 |
SPA 17 |
ANC 17 |
CZE 3 |
AUT 10 |
STY 12 |
RSM 10 |
EMI Ret |
CAT 5 |
FRA 6 |
ARA 8 |
TER 10 |
EUR Ret |
VAL 11 |
POR 7 |
7th | 94 | |||||||
| 2021 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 6 |
DOH Ret |
POR 4 |
SPA 8 |
FRA Ret |
ITA 4 |
CAT 10 |
GER Ret |
NED Ret |
STY Ret |
AUT 16 |
GBR 10 |
ARA 13 |
RSM 23 |
AME 18 |
EMI DNS |
ALR 24 |
VAL DNS |
13th | 59 | ||||
| 2022 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 8 |
INA 11 |
ARG 13 |
AME 8 |
POR 1 |
SPA 8 |
FRA 7 |
ITA 2 |
CAT Ret |
GER 13 |
NED 8 |
GBR 7 |
AUT 14 |
RSM 9 |
ARA 9 |
JPN 12 |
THA 8‡ |
AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
VAL 15 |
9th | 131 | ||
| 2023 | Moto2 | Kalex | POR 14 |
ARG 14 |
AME 16 |
SPA 14 |
FRA 12 |
ITA 12 |
GER Ret |
NED 18 |
GBR 4 |
AUT Ret |
CAT 11 |
RSM 8 |
IND 3 |
JPN 12 |
INA 9 |
AUS 5‡ |
THA Ret |
MAL 8 |
QAT 11 |
VAL 8 |
13th | 93.5 | ||
| 2024 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 7 |
POR 2 |
AME 2 |
SPA 2 |
FRA 4 |
CAT 8 |
ITA 1 |
NED DNS |
GER 8 |
GBR Ret |
AUT 9 |
ARA Ret |
RSM 13 |
EMI 6 |
INA 6 |
JPN 27 |
AUS DNS |
THA | MAL | SLD | 9th | 153 | ||
| 2025 | Moto2 | Kalex | THA 18 |
ARG 16 |
AME 25 |
QAT 15 |
SPA 11 |
FRA 12 |
GBR 8 |
ARA 7 |
ITA 9 |
NED 5 |
GER 6 |
CZE 1 |
AUT Ret |
HUN 19 |
CAT 12 |
RSM 20 |
JPN Ret |
INA 6 |
AUS 13 |
MAL Ret |
POR |
VAL |
14th | 97 |
| 2026 | Moto2 | Kalex | THA Ret |
BRA 18 |
USA 9 |
SPA 15 |
FRA 8 |
CAT Ret |
ITA 14 |
HUN 15 |
CZE 8 |
NED 15 |
GER 12 |
GBR 12 |
ARA | RSM | AUT | JPN | INA | AUS | MAL | QAT | POR | VAL | 14th* | 36* |
‡ Half points awarded as less than two thirds (2022 Thailand GP)/less than half (2023 Australian GP) of the race distance (but at least three full laps) was completed.
* Season still in progress.
