Nicolò Rocca
Italian professional racing driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicolò Rocca (born 14 December 1993 in Turin.[1]) is an Italian professional racing driver that competed in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving most recently the No. 56 Chevrolet Camaro for CAAL Racing in the EuroNASCAR PRO class. His best result in the series is a 3rd place in 2019,[2] at the wheel of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro of PK Carsport.
| Nicolò Rocca | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Italian |
| Born | 14 December 1993 |
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series career | |
| Debut season | 2013 |
| Current team | CAAL Racing |
| Car number | 56 |
| Starts | 97 (EuroNASCAR PRO) |
| Wins | 5 (EuroNASCAR PRO) |
| Podiums | 20 (EuroNASCAR PRO) |
| Poles | 9 (EuroNASCAR PRO) |
| Fastest laps | 7 (EuroNASCAR PRO) |
| Best finish | 3rd in 2019 (PRO) |
Finished last season | 4th in 2022 |
| Previous series | |
| 2011-12 | Formula Renault |
Career
Rocca started his racing career in 2002 with karting. During his karting career, he raced across Italy and Europe, culminating with a KF3 season in 2008. He made his car racing debut in 2010, racing in Formula BMW in the 2010 Formula Lista Junior season for Daltec Racing, scoring multiple podiums.
In 2011, Rocca graduated to Formula Renault, racing in the Alps championship, for Interwetten Racing, with a best result of third in the opening round in Monza. Rocca's experience in Formula Renault continued in 2012, racing for GSK this time,[3] in the Italian championship.
In 2013, Rocca switched to stock cars, taking part to his first NASCAR Whelen Euro championship in the PRO class, racing for Scorpus Racing. In 2014, he joined Caal Racing on the No.25 Chevrolet,[4] finishing the season with a win at the Bologna Motorshow race,[5] in December.
2015 was the breakthrough year for Rocca, which did see him scoring four pole positions in the first four races of the season, securing the best ever average qualifying position of the series, against teammates Alon Day and Eddie Cheever. He secured three wins and six podiums, which left him as the main title contender against Ander Vilarino[6] going into the last race of the year in Zolder. A controversial contact with the local hero Anthony Kumpen hampered Rocca's chances to secure his first title.
Rocca returned to the wheel of the No. 56 Chevrolet Camaro of Caal Racing in 2016, finishing the season in fourth.[7]
After only racing part time in 2017 and 2018, Rocca joined PK Carsport full time for the 2019 season, onboard of the No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro.[8][9] Rocca scored the first podium of the season in Brands Hatch, after a race long battle with Alon Day and Stienes Longin, for then securing the first pole position and win[10] with the new team in Most. Further podiums in Venray[11] and in Hockenheimring left Rocca as the main title contender of Loris Hezemans getting into the last weekend of the season,[12] which he eventually ended third[13] after a luck-less last race.
For 2020, Rocca joined the Austrian team DF1 Racing,[14] managing to bring the No.22 Chevrolet on the podium multiple times,[15] continuing with them in 2021,[16] and finishing the 2021 season in fourth.[17]
In 2022, Rocca re-joined Caal Racing No.56 Chevrolet Camaro, starting off the season with a pole position and win in Valencia.[18] Rocca ended leading the championship for most of the 2022 season,[19] ending the season in fourth.
Karting record
Racing record
Racing career summary
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 Alps Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO
(key) Bold - Pole position awarded by fastest qualifying time (in Race 1) or by previous race's fastest lap (in Race 2). Italics - Fastest lap. * – Most laps led. ^ – Most positions gained.)
| NASCAR Whelen Euro Series - EuroNASCAR PRO results | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | NWES | Pts | ||
| 2013 | Scorpus Racing | 19 | Chevy | NOG 10 |
NOG 19 |
DIJ 10 |
DIJ 6 |
BRH 7 |
BRH 9 |
TOU 18 |
TOU 5 |
MNZ 14 |
MNZ 8 |
BUG | BUG | 14th | 403 | |||
| 2014 | CAAL Racing | 25 | Chevy | VAL 16 |
VAL 21 |
BRH 10 |
BRH 8 |
TOU 10 |
TOU 10 |
NÜR 20 |
NÜR 5 |
UMB 22 |
UMB 9 |
BUG 19 |
BUG 12 |
13th | 483 | |||
| 2015 | 56 | VAL 3 |
VAL 11 |
VEN 1* |
VEN 7* |
BRH 18 |
BRH 21 |
TOU 1* |
TOU 3 |
UMB 3 |
UMB 1 |
ZOL 18 |
ZOL DNS |
9th | 561 | |||||
| 2016 | VAL 4 |
VAL 21 |
VEN 4 |
VEN 7 |
BRH 20 |
BRH 6 |
TOU 5 |
TOU 3 |
ADR 4 |
ADR 6 |
ZOL 3 |
ZOL 20 |
4th | 553 | ||||||
| 2018 | VAL | VAL | FRA | FRA | BRH 9 |
BRH 21 |
TOU | TOU | HOC | HOC | ZOL 5 |
ZOL 17 |
25th | 154 | ||||||
| 2019 | PK Carsport | 24 | Chevy | VAL 5 |
VAL 5 |
FRA 6 |
FRA 5 |
BRH 3 |
BRH 9 |
MOS 1* |
MOS 11 |
VEN 2 |
HOC 2 |
HOC 2 |
ZOL 24 |
ZOL 8 |
3rd | 499 | ||
| 2020 | DF1 Racing | 22 | Chevy | ITA 8 |
ITA 8 |
BEL 8 |
BEL DNS |
CRO 10 |
CRO 13 |
ESP1 15 |
ESP1 4 |
ESP2 15 |
ESP2 3 |
9th | 317 | |||||
| 2021 | ESP 2 |
ESP 5 |
GBR 3 |
GBR 8 |
CZE 5 |
CZE 10 |
CRO 7 |
CRO 7 |
BEL 5 |
BEL 4 |
ITA 4 |
ITA 6 |
4th | 394 | ||||||
| 2022 | CAAL Racing | 56 | Chevy | VAL 1 |
VAL 3 |
GBR 2 |
GBR 4 |
ITA 7 |
ITA DNF |
CZE 24 |
CZE 8 |
BEL 4 |
BEL 15 |
CRO 13 |
CRO 2 |
4th | 374 | |||