[ M. LaRocco | K. Windham | J. Grant | B. Laninovich | T. Hahn | J. Rodrigues | J. Weimer ]

Born: Dec. 6, 1981, Barcelos, Portugal Residence: Temecula, CA National #: 55 Began riding: 1989, age 7 First race: 1991, age 10 Training: Mountain biking, swimming, road bikes and gym work Hobbies: Movies, PlayStation, billiards Height/weight: 5’9”/165 pounds Marital status: Single Current race bike: Honda CRF250R Mechanic: Chad Sanner

Click on any of the photos below for a larger image.

Profile: JOAQUIM RODRIGUES

If any racer on the SoBe/Samsung Mobile/Honda Racing Team is ready for the 2006 AMA Supercross and motocross series, it is Joaquim Rodrigues. A native of Portugal, the 24-year-old Rodrigues is one of the world’s top motocross talents, showing flashes of brilliance in his first season on the Honda-supported squad despite struggling with injuries throughout the 2005 campaign.

Competing in the 125 East Region Supercross Series, Rodrigues earned a respectable sixth place at the lead-off event in Indianapolis. He struggled in Atlanta before bouncing back to finish fourth in St. Louis. A practice-session injury in Orlando kept him out of the next two rounds, but he bounced back again and scored an impressive third place at Pontiac, making his first trip to the Supercross podium. At the East/West Shootout in Las Vegas, Rodrigues got caught in a pile-up in the main event, suffering a concussion and injuries to his wrist and ankle. With the outdoor season slated to start just two weeks later at Hangtown, Rodrigues was hobbled.

Ever the competitor, he lined up at the starting gate to earn valuable championship points. Fighting off the pain of his injuries, he completed the first moto. But at the start of the second moto, Rodrigues was caught in a first-turn pileup, compounding the injury to his foot. He sat out the next three rounds to recuperate, returning during round five at Red Bud. Nursing his recovery for the remainder of the outdoor nationals, he came back to post one top-10 finish at Steel City and finished the season in 22nd position.

As he returns to top condition and prepares for 2006, Rodrigues can draw on a long legacy of success. His early introduction to racing at age 7 taught him the fundamentals of competition. “My first race was in 1989, when my family went to a race in the south of Portugal. My dad entered me and I took fourth. I never practiced, I just cruised around and got fourth. Then I broke my foot and my dad took my bike away for two years. My dad always said if I became injured he wasn’t going to let me ride any more.”

Lesson learned, Rodrigues honed his racecraft and beginning in 1998 at age 16, won a number of European national championships. “I have a lot of national titles in Europe, around 15. I won the International Series in Germany in 2001 and 2002. It’s a big deal over there.”

Racing in America proved to be the next hurdle. “In the beginning, my dad said it was going to be a big, big step because I would be by myself. My family was a little bit against it at first, not because I wasn’t good enough, it was because they didn’t want me to leave. They support my racing all the time. My dad has a race team and he’s the team manager/owner, so he’s busy.”

2004 would be Rodrigues’ year to get noticed. Despite shoulder and wrist injuries that took him out of the running in the Supercross series, the multi-time champ demonstrated his skills during the 250 Nationals. Competing in 10 events on the 12-race calendar, Rodrigues came out of nowhere to finish in the top 10 six times, highlighted by a fifth-place overall finish at Binghamton.

Joining the Factory Connection Honda team in 2005 seemed pre-ordained. “My dad’s a Honda dealer and he’s been working with Honda for many of years. I’ve been riding Hondas since I was a little boy. So for me, joining the Honda team was like coming home.”
One reason Rodrigues is able to recover so quickly from his injuries is his conditioning. “I ride a lot--that’s for sure. Mountain biking, road biking, swimming and a little bit of gym work. I’ve been working with Kevin [Windham] and Mike [LaRocco] a lot too. They help with advice and help me loosen up. They know I have the speed because they see how fast I go on the practice tracks.”

For the second consecutive year, Rodrigues will be competing on Honda’s awesome four-stroke CRF250R in Supercross Lites (East Region) and Motocross Lites, the AMA’s new class names for 125cc two-stroke and 250cc four-stroke bikes. His goal? “I want to be the best. I want to be there in the mix, and be a top guy, definitely. No one has ever gone out of my country to race anything--not GP, not Supercross, nothing. So, it’s even a bigger deal for me to be here. It’s a dream for me and my family.”

Statistics

2005
-9th AMA 125 East Region Supercross Series
-22nd AMA 125 National Motocross Series

2004
-17th AMA 125 Western Region Supercross Series (rode 3 roof 8 rounds)
-11th AMA/Chevy Trucks 250 National Motocross Series (rode 10 of 12 rounds)

2003
-20th AMA/Chevy Trucks 250 National Motocross Series (rode 6 rounds of 11)
-29th AMA 125 National Motocross Series (rode 3 of 11 rounds)

2002
-25th 500cc Motocross World Championship
-9th 125 Supercross Paris-Bercy—125cc

2001
-Portuguese 125 Motocross Champion
-Portuguese 250 Supercross Champion
-German 250 Supercross Cup Champion
-20th 250 Motocross World Championship
-2nd Bergamo 250 Supercross
-6th French 250 Supercross
-San Sebastian 250 Supercross Champion
-4th Barcelona 250 Supercross

2000
-Portuguese 250 Supercross Champion
-Portuguese 125 Motocross Champion
-4th European Championship of Motocross
-9th Supercross 250 World Championship
-5th 125 Supercross Paris-Bercy
-San Sebastian 125 Supercross Champion
-5th Barcelona 125 Supercross
-Grenoble 125 Supercross Champion

1999
-Portuguese 125 Supercross Champion
-Portuguese 125 Motocross Champion
-7th French 125 Supercross

1998
-Portuguese 125 National Motocross Champion

1997
-Portuguese 125 National Supercross Series
-Portuguese 125 National Motocross Champion

1996
-2nd European Motocross Championship