Tuka Rocha

Christiano Chiaradia Alcoba "Tuka" Rocha (born December 13, 1982 in São Paulo , † November 17, 2019 in Salvador ) was a Brazilian racing driver .

Career

Rocha began his motorsport career in karting in 1992 and was active in this sport until 2000. Among other things, he won the Brazilian junior kart championship in 1996 and the Brazilian senior kart championship in 1998. In 2001 the racing driver switched to formula racing and immediately became runner-up in the light class of the South American Formula 3 championship . In 2002 Rocha competed for Gabord Competición in the World Series by Nissan . While his team-mate Ricardo Zonta won the championship title, he finished eleventh with a fourth place as the best race placement in the overall classification. 2003 Rocha initially stayed in the World Series by Nissan. However, he only entered 10 out of 18 races for Zele Racing . In the overall ranking he finished 17th. He also started two races in the British Formula 3 Championship and finished 24th in the drivers' championship.

In 2004 Rocha switched to the Superfund Euro Formula 3000 and took part in seven out of ten race weekends for various teams. With a second place as the best result, he finished the season in eighth place overall. In 2005, the Brazilian only took part in one race in the racing series, which had since been renamed the Italian Formula 3000 . Starting for Durango , he finished third and was 14th overall at the end of the season. In 2006 the championship was renamed again. In the racing series now known as Euroseries 3000 , Rocha took part in each race for three different racing teams this year. He won his first race in this championship on the Silverstone Circuit . He finished fourth in the drivers' championship.

After taking part in 8 of 22 A1 races for the Brazilian team in winter 2006/2007 , he took part in two Euroseries 3000 races. He was second on the podium once. In the overall standings he was 17th. He also started a race in the Stock Car Brasil in the light class. In 2008 Rocha started for the Astromega team from Flamengo Rio de Janeiro . After a second place in the second race, he could not build on this performance for the rest of the season. His team came in 16th at the end of the season.

From 2011 to 2018 Rocha drove in Stock Car Brasil .

On November 17, 2019, at the age of 36, he succumbed to burn injuries from three days earlier in a plane crash.

statistics

Career stations

• 1992-2000: Karting
• 2001: South American Formula 3 Championship , Light class (2nd place)
• 2002: World Series by Nissan (11th place)
• 2003: World Series by Nissan (17th place); British Formula 3 Championship (24th place)
• 2004: Superfund Euro Formula 3000 (8th place)
• 2005: Italian Formula 3000 (14th place)
• 2006: Euroseries 3000 (4th place)
• 2007: Euroseries 3000 (17th place); A1 Grand Prix ; Stock Car Brasil
• 2008 : Superleague Formula (16th place)
• 2011–2018: Stock Car Brasil

Web links

• Official website of Tuka Rocha (Portuguese)
• Career statistics of Tuka Rocha (English)