Fernando Ulloa, Age 9 Tacoma, Washington Fernando Ulloa got a little Honda 50cc minibike when he was three years old, and he spent the next couple of years cruising around the neighborhood on it. That hobby changed irrevocably when he went to the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “I saw Valentino Rossi race,” says Ulloa, explaining why riding around on the little minibike was no longer good enough—he wanted to go road racing. Ulloa is quiet and reserved, but he’s enjoying his time on two wheels. Shortly after the Rossi incident, he got a Blata 2.5 pocketbike, stuck a big yellow 46 on the side, and went racing. His first race was in McMinnville, Oregon, in 2010, and he quickly added a BMS 6.2 pocketbike to his stable. In his first year, he earned enough points to place third in the Semi-Pro class. The year after that, he raced with NCminiGP, earning a second place in the Blata Cup class and winning the BMW Semi-Pro title. The year after that, he raced with the Minimoto USA series, taking a second in the Pro Pocketbike 40cc class, third in the Metrakit 65cc class and third in the NSR 50cc class. It’s a struggle to get to the races. The family drives 20 hours down from Washington to the warmer climes of the Southwest to get dry track time. And the practice he gets is usually limited to the time available at the track the day before the races. But Ulloa enjoys the time he spends on the track. This season, he’s got a Honda RS125 and an RS125 chassis with a four-stroke 85cc engine installed. He can’t race the RS125 yet, but has had the opportunity to shake the 85cc bike down during a WERA West round in Las Vegas. When asked what’s the biggest difference between those bikes and the pocketbikes and minibikes he’s been racing, Ulloa grinned and said, “The speed!” At this point, while Ulloa says he’s thinking about racing professionally, it’s still all about fun. Ask him what he likes away from the track, and he talks about skating and playing basketball, swimming in the lake near his home, and hanging out in the trailer with his dad and learning how to fish. No wonder Ulloa smiles so much. “I really enjoy doing what I do,” Ulloa says. “My goal for this year is to give it my all, do the best that I can and enjoy every second of each competition.”