Landers/Rodio victorious this past weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex

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Landers/Rodio victorious this past weekend at Pittsburgh International Race Complex

Rodio increases points lead at penultimate MotoAmerica Twins Cup round of 2023

Rodio Racing - Powered by Robem Engineering rider Gus Rodio (No. 96).

Photo by Sara Chappell Photos

WAMPUM, Pa. -- With the 2023 MotoAmerica Twins Cup season winding down, both Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering riders took home a victory and podium finish at the class’ penultimate round of the 2023 season. 2020 Twins Cup champion Rocco Landers took top honors in the Saturday Twins Cup race at Pittsburgh International Race Complex, while his teammate Gus Rodio’s victory in Sunday’s race allowed him to retake and increase his lead in the Twins Cup points standings.

Both riders also delt with some disappointment at the Aug. 18-20 event, as Rodio came oh-so-close to a runner-up finish on Saturday, while a crash in Sunday’s warm-up session made Landers’ race on Sunday a more challenging task. Despite the setbacks, the team achieved its third 1-2 finish of the season, and both riders are locked in a three-way battle for the championship that will be decided at the season finale in September.

The weekend started well for the Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering duo. In Friday morning practice, Rodio and Landers were the second- and third-fastest riders, respectively. Both riders lowered their best lap times from practice by more than a second in the Friday afternoon Qualifying 1 session, and Rodio claimed provisional pole position by a narrow 0.063 second margin. Landers provisionally qualified third.

Qualifying 2 ended up being Landers’ moment to shine. After spending most of the session in third place, Landers put down a blindingly fast lap with a few minutes to go in the session and claimed his fifth pole position of the year. Rodio finished qualifying in third place, putting both of the team’s Aprilia RS 660s on the front row for the round’s two Twins Cup races.

Saturday afternoon’s Race 1 was the scene of a Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering victory -- and nearly a 1-2 finish. Rodio and Landers slotted into second and third place, respectively, as the field went through the holeshot. Rodio was the first to make a move to the lead, which he accomplished on the first lap at Turn 7. Landers also moved up a position and few corners later, and it was Rodio who led the field at the end of the first lap. Landers briefly fell to third in the running order early in Lap 2, but was back into second place by the time he exited Turn 4. Landers then made a pass on his teammate Rodio for the lead and – except for briefly dropping to second at the start of Lap 4 – Landers led every lap and clinched the win by more than three seconds. Rodio ran the remainder of the race in third place, though he made a big push in the closing laps for second place but had to settle for third by a mere 0.042 seconds.

Rodio Racing - Powered by Robem Engineering rider Rocco Landers (No. 97). Photo by Sara Chappell Photos

Sunday got off to a downer start for one of the team’s riders, as Landers suffered a minor crash during the morning warm-up session. As a precaution, the team decided to make an engine change before Race 2.

The start of Race 2 mirrored Race 1, as Rodio and Landers were running second and third at the first turn and Rodio quickly made a move to take the lead a couple corners later. The three riders battling for the lead quickly began pulling away from the rest of the field, and Rodio dropped to second place before the end of the first lap. Most of the shortened nine-lap race featured an intense battle between the three riders vying for the lead until the other frontrunner made a mistake on the last lap that allowed Landers and Rodio to pull away from him. Though Landers had the lead heading into the last few corners, Rodio was able to get by him before the finish line to take the win by a mere 0.104 seconds.

Rodio ended the weekend at PittRace with an eight-point lead in the points standings, while Landers is in third place – just 14 points behind Rodio with two races remaining.

The last round of the 2023 MotoAmerica Twins Cup season is scheduled for Sept. 22-24 at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J.

Gus Rodio / No. 96

“We struggled a little bit with bike setup early in the weekend and getting through the second sector – which is the esses and back straight. We made some progress Saturday, but we took a gamble on the tires. We made a step in the right direction Sunday with the setup, but the tire was a little greasy. I’m happy with the results we had this weekend, and we lengthened the points lead a little going into my home race. I’ll have a lot of friends and family at the next round, and we’ll see what happens there.”

Rocco Landers / No. 97

“This is a good track for me, and the team had the bike working really good. I made a mistake this morning and we took the precaution of changing the engine. Unfortunately, that change resulted in a loss of power. I tried hard in the race, and I don’t know if I could’ve done much more than I did. It was good to get another 1-2 result.”

Robem Engineering’s technical partners for 2023 include Aprilia Racing, Piaggio Group Americas, Bitubo Suspension, Dunlop, Woodcraft Technologies, Dymag, Vesrah, Sprint Filter, DID, Sara Chappell Photos, NGK/NTK, Blud Lubricants, Millennium Technologies, Motovation USA and SC-Project.

Rodio Racing's technical partners for 2023 include NJ MiniGP, Luxestar VIP, MAR Contractors, Geoscape Solar, Evolve GT, N2 Racing, Dunlop, Spellcaster Productions, Kathedral, The Martinn, Liqui Moly and MVR Endeavor.

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This press release has been prepared by Marino Communications on behalf of Rodio Racing - Powered by Robem Engineering. If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Michael Marino at 614.636.0199 ormichael@marinocommunications.com