Fastest on Friday, fastest in qualifying on Saturday… now Joe Roberts, his American Racing team and American motorcycle racing fans eagerly await to see if the history maker can make yet more history at the Qatar GP.
Without wanting to jinx Moto2™'s first pole sitter of the decade, there are a few accolades Roberts can pick up if he does a Qatar clean sweep and takes victory under the lights. For a start, we have to harp our minds all the way back to 1990 to see the last American intermediate class race winner. John Kocinski on board his Yamaha beat Helmut Bradl – father to former Moto2™ World Champion Stefan – at Phillip Island that day nearly 30 years ago. American fans have had to wait since Assen 2011 when Ben Spies took his first and only MotoGP™ victory, and the same rider took America's last Grand Prix podium too – P2 in Valencia 2011.
Before today, Roberts hadn’t participated in a Q2 session before. Now, he’ll lead the Moto2™ World Championship grid off the line as the lights go out for racing in 2020 at 18:00 local time (GMT+3). Does American have a new Roberts Grand Prix star?