14089 Tamiya Telefonica MoviStar Suzuki RGV 2001

When Kenny Roberts took the long awaited Motor Grand Prix 500cc Class World Championship in the year 2000 season with his 4 solid victories and uncanny consistency, it marked the first victory for Team Suzuki since rider Kevin Schwantz took the championship in 1993. For Kenny Roberts, Jr. this was not only a personal and team victory, but a family victory as well, as he followed in the footsteps of his father, Kenny Roberts, Sr. (known as "King" Kenny), who reigned victorious in the Motor Grand Prix throughout the 80's. The Roberts became the first father-son champions in Motor Grand Prix Circuit history. In the 2001 season the RGV champion machine was again to be used, but would feature a more powerful engine as well as other improvements. Spanish telecommunications group, Telfonica continued to be the main sponsor, and top Spanish rider Sete Gibernau joined the team. For coloring, the RGV-Gamma '01 machine featured the same blue base and yellow checkered pattern as the previous year's machine, with the addition of a bright fluorescent stripe on the cowling. Kenny Robert's Junior's machine inherited racing number 1, designed in the motif of an eagles beak, from this father King Kenny. At the 12th race in Valencia, despite difficult road conditions the went from wet to dry, Roberts took 3rd and Gibernau took his first Motor GP race victory. At the end of the season, Suzuki announced plans to enter a 4-stroke machine in the 2002 season. Thus the RGV-Gamma '01 marked the final 2-stroke V4 engine of the RG series legacy.