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In the living room of the Wilson family home in St. David's there is a large photograph of a beaming 14-year-old Toriano in his Red Bull uniform.

The picture is surrounded by hundreds of messages and signatures from people from around the world telling how the young motorcycle prodigy had touched their lives.

It is part of a collection of photographs and trophies that the youngster, who this week won the Bermuda Sun Youth Sports Personality of the Year award, accumulated in his short but glorious career.

Parents Dennis Wilson and Tanya Trott say they are constantly moved by the accolades that continue to flood in for the young prodigy, four months after his death following a crash at the Virginia International Raceway.

And though they lost their son to motor racing, they have no regrets about encouraging him to ride and would love to see their other sons Keanu and Khyren go on to live Toriano's dream of riding Moto GP.

And they see the mementos - including a DVD of Toriano in action compiled for them by Red Bull - not as a reminder of how he died, but as an affirmation of his life.

"From the moment he saw his daddy ride Toriano begged and begged me to let him ride. I was unsure at first but I went away on a trip and when I came back Dennis had put him on a bike.

"The moment I saw him ride I thought, 'I can't take this away from him'.

"They described Tori as an eagle. To watch him ride was like watching an eagle fly. I was so proud of how he changed. People thought he was going to be one of those kids on the corner but he went on to be bigger than anyone ever imagined.

"Even the adults looked up to him and everyone said what a beautiful personality he was.

"I lost my son to the sport and people ask how could I let my other sons go on riding? But how could I not, when it had such a positive effect on him.

"That was my baby. I miss him. But he was doing what he loved to do.

"You only need to look at that DVD to see that he loved every minute of it."

Toriano had always shown immense talent on the local scene, winning his first race on the adult GP 125 circuit as a 12-year-old.

But 2008 was his break-out year internationally. After winning a place on the prestigious Red Bull Rookies circuit - a series for the top young riders in the Americas - he clocked some of the fastest times in training before finishing fourth in his first race.

"That first race day at Barber was the highlight for me. They dropped the flag and Toriano was dead last and in the wrong gear. He worked his way back through the pack and ended up finishing fourth. Everyone was shocked by his ability."

Red Bull had already been approached by two Moto GP teams interested in the young rider when he was killed on the track in Virgina.

Wilson snr, who taught his son to ride, travelled with him across America to races and made constant sacrifices to finance his son's race career, said his son's acheivements were already leading to other opportunites for youngsters in Bermuda, including Toriano's brother Keanu who will try out for the Red Bull Rookies Cup this year.

"I think he opened everybody's eyes that this was achievable. No matter what, you can reach your goals.

"Now his brother has the urge, the drive and the dream to want to do it. The only difference is Tori won't be with him. That would have been monumental, as far as Bermuda was concerned - to have two brothers out there at the highest level."[[In-content Ad]]

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