Ernest Thomas Roccio (16 September 1927 – 22 July 1952) was a
motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...
rider from the United States.
Speedway career
Roccio was a leading speedway rider in the early 1950s. He reached the final of the
Speedway World Championship
The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest-ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world, run under the auspices of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). The first official championsh ...
in the
1951 Individual Speedway World Championship
The 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship was the sixth edition of the official World Championship to determine the world champion rider.
Australia's Jack Young won the World Championship. Young won a run-off for the title with British ...
.
He rode in the
top tier of British Speedway, riding for
Wimbledon Dons
The Wimbledon Dons were a professional motorcycle speedway team who operated from the Wimbledon Stadium, Plough Lane in London from 1929 until 1991. The team were seven times champions of Britain.
History Origins
The speedway track opened ...
. Previously he had raced for the Shelbourne Tigers in Dublin along with his brother John Roccio. While riding for Wimbledon on 22 July 1952 he was killed after crashing into the fence at high speed at
West Ham Stadium
West Ham Stadium existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, Newham, Custom House, east London, England, on Prince Regent Lane, near the present-day Prince Regent DLR station.
The venue was used for Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, ...
, it has been reported that he died instantly but the newspaper report states he died in hospital.
World Final Appearances
*
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...
- London,
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
- 15th - 2pts
See also
Rider deaths in motorcycle speedway
This article lists riders who have died competing at motorcycle speedway events. During the mid-2000s air fences were installed at most oval cinder/shale tracks, which consequently and significantly reduced deaths and serious injury.
List
...
References
1927 births
1952 deaths
American speedway riders
Wimbledon Dons riders
American expatriate speedway riders in England
Motorcycle racers from Los Angeles
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