Rider bio
My Dad used to race and heard about kids racing from a friend. My Dad took me to see some kids race and I instantly wanted to do it more than anything. I have loved it ever since!
My Mom and Dad have always supported 'My' decision to race.
My Dad has always been one of my coaches, often times he is my mechanic, crew chief, biggest sponsor, and has always believed in me.
Even when it was very difficult racing in Spain and Italy against the big teams, he always had my back and let me know that if we just keep showing up, putting in the work, that I would eventually make my goals happen.
My father is a rancher and does construction my mom is the homemaker I have two brothers and a sister Bo (13), Farrah (10) and Diesel (8).
Rocco has a clear idea of where he is headed as he follows on from his heroes, Wayne Rainey, Ben Spies, Ronnie Mac and Valentino Rossi. "Easy answer: To win multiple Moto2 and MotoGP World Championships."
And has had some great races along the way. "A good one was in 2018, the Spanish, RFME Championship round Navara, Race 2. It was the first race that I hung with the leaders for whole race. I ended up 4th in the 85cc class that day and knew that I could race with the fast kids."
"My best race to date, 2019, MotoAmerica Junior Cup, Virginia International Raceway, Race 1. I mis-estimated when the race would actually start, and ended up missing the warm up lap. I had to start from the back row at a track that I had only had 2 sessions on. I had a top 5 finish as my expectation."
"Before the race, as I sat on the hot pit lane, I apologised to my Dad. He said don't worry about it and go have a great race, ride the wheels off that bike! I started the race well, ended up tracking down the leaders with 2 laps to go, had a great battle with Dallas Daniels and Kevin Olmedo and pulled off the win by only about a ½ wheel / photo finish. It was so much fun!
"In 2019 I learnt how to race a 4 stroke, how to be more aggressive in difficult conditions and a lot more about race bike set-up."
"My favourite corners are chicanes that are as tight as possible when you have to jump both curbs!" he enthuses.
Winning the 2019 MotoAmerica Junior Cup Championship in New Jersey
"Racing and winning is the best part to me. I do keep getting better and better at bike setup, and that makes it more enjoyable actually."
"For 2020 I want to do as well as I possibly can in the 2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and win as many races/championships in MotoAmerica as we can,"
Away from the circuit life is pretty cool. "I love being up at our ranch in Oregon. We have a flat track and lots of trails for MX riding. We also have animals to take care of and lots of hard work to do around the ranch. But I cannot wait to get back to racing."
Not surprising his favourite pastime is flat tracking but at school he enjoys biology.
