Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1541571
December 2025 9 Tyler's parents had introduced their boy to trials in order to sharpen his balance skills. I was impressed, to say the least, and Tyler Rocha made the cover of Trail Rider in September of 2016, becoming our youngest racer to earn a Rider Spotlight feature to date. At the me, Tyler was racing in the NETRA Pee Wee 5 class, having just graduated from Pee Wee Sports- man. Following in the footsteps of his older brother, Zach Nardi, Tyler raced his way up the NETRA ladder aboard a bevy of KTMs of mul ple displacements from the air-cooled Mini Adventure to the 50 Senior, then 65s, 85s, and Super Mini 105s. The Rocha family are staunch KTM "Orange Bleeders" as the Austrian bikes have proven to withstand the rigors of brutal New England condi ons and terrain. During this span of racing mini's, Tyler gained mo- mentum, earning key championships in each class, and skipped the C-Class altogether, lining up on the B row at the start of 2022. It was the season of '22 and moving up to full-sized bikes that Tyler really began to shine, earning his A card in only five races aboard a KTM 125XC. In his second year in the highly compe ve A200 class, Tyler dug deep and won the 2023 champi- onship, earning his AA status for 2024. Beginning his AA season, Tyler parked his 125s for a KTM 250 XC-F, and the four-stroke seems to fit him like a glove with a 5 th place championship finish in his very first year in the stacked AA class. Entering 2025 with more confidence, speed, and endurance, along with a solid bike prepara on regimen, Tyler developed a smooth yet blinding- ly fast pace that has earned him respect amongst his peers. I've enjoyed following his results and his methodical approach to each and every race. Where some will toss it all away to fight for a lead posi on, Tyler seems calm and collected with his race cra that he's developed over the last dozen years. This mindset, along with the help of his father Bruce's impeccable mainte- nance program on his race bikes, has paid off in the way of winning the 2025 NETRA Overall Hare Scrambles Championship, and we couldn't be happier for this kid. Watching him flourish over the years has been a treat.