Ernie Roccio

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Ernie Roccio
Born(1927-09-16)16 September 1927
Los Angeles
Died22 July 1952(1952-07-22) (aged 24)
West Ham Stadium
NationalityAmerican
Career history
1950–1952Wimbledon Dons
Individual honours
1951Speedway World Championship finalist
Team honours
1950, 1951National Trophy Winner

Ernest Thomas Roccio (16 September 1927 – 22 July 1952) was a motorcycle speedway rider from the United States.[1][2]

Speedway career[edit]

Roccio was a leading speedway rider in the early 1950s. He reached the final of the Speedway World Championship in the 1951 Individual Speedway World Championship.[3]

He rode in the top tier of British Speedway, riding for Wimbledon Dons. Previously he had raced for the Shelbourne Tigers in Dublin along with his brother John Roccio.[4] While riding for Wimbledon on 22 July 1952 he was killed after crashing into the fence at high speed at West Ham Stadium, it has been reported that he died instantly but the newspaper report states he died in hospital.[5]

World Final Appearances[edit]

See also[edit]

Rider deaths in motorcycle speedway

References[edit]

  1. ^ "WORLD INDIVIDUAL FINAL - RIDER INDEX". British Speedway. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  2. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  3. ^ "World Speedway finals" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ "History Archive". British Speedway. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Speed Track Star Dies". Western Daily Press. 23 July 1952. Retrieved 5 July 2021 – via British Newspaper Archive.