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Roberts duo finish the race
10 June 2007 / Results / PhotosKenny Roberts Jr. won the battle of the brothers by beating younger brother Kurtis in the Catalunya Grand Prix in Montmelo, Spain. This was the first time the brothers, who've spent their whole lives pushing each other on the dirt tracks of the Roberts' ranch in Hickman, California, have raced each other to the finish at a world class level, and they came away with a renewed appreciation of each others' skills.
Kenny Jr. finished 16th today, two spots in front of Kurtis, who spent much of the race in front of his far more experienced brother. Kurtis led Kenny Jr. from the first lap to the 19th of 25. It was then that Junior put his considerable experience to good use, cleanly drafting past Kurtis down the front straight of the 4.727 kms. Circuit de Catalunya, site of the seventh round of the MotoGP World Championship.
Kenny Roberts jr. said about Sunday's Spanish Grand prix: "Kurtis did really good. He was much quicker than I was in the beginning of the race and I was squaring off all the corners and I couldn't get any grip to stay with them guys. And then my bike…the power started coming around, the grip level started getting closer front and rear. Just was trying everything I could to get up with him. Once I got within a second, from then on I was just trying to pass him, if he made a mistake at all. And he didn't make a mistake, didn't get off line. He was braking hard, going through the corner the same speed as me, but accelerating smoother, because I was trying to get a jump on him, so I would just spin. And I finally was able to get a draft off him down the front straight. And then I concentrated on Carlos (Checa) ahead and then he had something go wrong with his tire or bike."
Kurtis Roberts said: "Yeah, it was the first time I've ever been in front of Kenny. That probably screwed me up more than anything, because I thought I heard him back there. But what really screwed me up halfway through the race, just for like a lap-I thought he was right behind me the whole race-and it was plus 1.6 seconds. Because I'd see his lap times and I wasn't paying that much attention to the lap board at first. And I would see he'd have a faster one than me. I figured he'd be right behind me. And then he kind of caught me off guard. And trying to catch (Carlos) Checa, I started rushing everything a bit.
"I just didn't have any grip from the start. I was just hung out to dry, just sliding the thing everywhere. I knew I was catching Checa, but Kenny, when he passed me, I thought I screwed up. I didn't even realize he was towing me along that good. But it was fun. When you watch Little Kenny, he's Mister No Mistake and I make a lot of mistakes."
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