November 13, 2016 Valencia, Spain
Team AGR With FULL AMERICAN FLAVOR!
American’s Jayson Uribe (Napa Valley, CA) and Joe Roberts (Los Angeles, CA) will be joining Team AGR Racing for the FIM CEV Repsol 2017 season. The team, owned by renowned chef and businessman, Karlos Arguiñano, will have American flavor next season. CEV Moto2 European Champion, Steven Odendaal, will move on and leave his Kalex race bike to Roberts, a rider that already knows the European paddock well, as he competed for multiple seasons within the famous Red Bull Rookies Cup, where he racked up wins, podiums and track records.
Roberts comes from the MotoAmerica U.S. Championship, where he was 2015 600 Superstock Champion (with 10 wins and 7 pole positions for Meen Motorsports) and raced for the team in 2016 aboard a 600 Supersport R6. The well-known Los Angeles rider tested for AGR at the Ricardo Tormo de Valencia Circuit in October, getting up to speed quickly during the single day outing. He was impressed by the team’s professionalism and methods.
“l loved my time racing in the U.S. the past three seasons, the people at MotoAmerica have done a great job at putting American Road Racing back on solid footing, Wayne was always there to give me advice and I want to thank Ameen and everyone at Meen Motorsports for the 2015 Championship and their efforts. I’m going to miss everybody but I really wanted to get back to Europe and do my best to make it to the World Championship.
“I’m very excited to be joining AGR in the FIM CEV European Championship. I feel this is the perfect step, at the right time with an excellent team. Like many, my ultimate goal is to get to MotoGP. CEV is a great bridge to the World Moto2 Championship and I want to do well as soon as possible and think I have a good shot. At the same time, I am not under-estimating the level of competition here – these guys are no joke.
“At the test, the team and I were able to work well together right away. The level is very high, and they are methodical and organized and responsive to feedback. So I am confident we can work well together for next year. I’m lucky to have this opportunity and look forward to working with AGR and my teammate Jayson.”
Uribe, also has MotoAmerica SuperStock heritage having raced twice as a wild card entry with Meen Motorsports in between his French Superbike Championship commitments. Jayson finished 5th in the FSBK 600 Pirelli Cup capturing many podiums, including his first international win and track record at Circuit de Ledenon in central France.
Jayson, 17, already has one year of experience aboard the Kalex machine with AGR achieving 3 top ten finishes in his rookie year. Jayson states:
“I arrived at the beginning of this season with an unrealistic goal of being in the top 5; I quickly learned that I needed to improve my riding before I would reach that goal. It’s been hard work but with the team’s help, input and experience, I’ve made consistent progress throughout the season. Prototype bikes have always been my passion and my strength; it’s been my dream to race at the CEV level and to continue to work towards the GP grid.”
Jayson spent two seasons (2013-14) in the British Superbike Championship, first on a stock Honda RS125 where he had consistent top 10 finishes. In 2014 he joined FPW Racing aboard a 2012 Honda Moto3 where he finished on the podium more than 50% of the time, securing 3rd overall in the Moto3 Championship. “My goal for 2017 is to consistently progress and aim for podium finishes. I am very happy to continue my good relationship with AGR into the coming season and welcome Joe to the team.”
Jayson’s 2016 AGR teammate and good friend, Steven Odendaal, clinched the Moto2 European Championship earlier this year at Portimao, Portugal with the help of the team and many generous sponsors.
Team Manager, Iker Burutxaga:
“We are very excited to have a pair of good American riders with us next season, as you know, America has a great motorcycle racing heritage and many World Championship titles brought to us by the likes of Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, Freddy Spencer, Kevin Schwantz and Nicky Hayden. We look forward to perhaps begin a new U.S. Era with Joe and Jayson, both have proven themselves ready to compete at this level and both are wonderful ambassadors to carry the American flag in Europe.”