Kurtis Roberts had a disappointing close to a difficult season in the final round of the MotoGP championship, the Valencia GP, retiring after ten laps of the 30-lap race round the 4.005-km Ricardo Tormo circuit outside the historic portcity. The younger son of triple-champion Kenny Roberts had qualified 19th, and felt confident he could improve his position and add to his points score after an encouraging performance in morning warm-up, when he was 14th.