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 anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

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. Speedway riders from Sweden, Scotland and Republic of South Africa appeared in the World Championshi ...

. 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.Jacobs, N. ''Speedway in London'', The track opened in 1928 and the Dons operated there from 1929 until 1991. They w ...

. 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 was a stadium that existed between 1928 and 1972 in Custom House, in East London (it was in the County Borough of West Ham, in the county of Essex, at the time of the stadium's construction). The stadium was built in 1928 on Pri ...

, 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 United ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- 15th - 2pts

References

1927 births 1952 deaths American speedway riders Wimbledon Dons riders Sportspeople from Los Angeles {{Speedway-stub

Speedway career

World Final Appearances

See also

References