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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – At the end of the 2023 season, Gus Rodio had proven himself to be one of the frontrunners in the MotoAmerica Twins Cup despite it being his first year racing in the class. At the 2024 season-opening Twins Cup round at Daytona International Speedway, Rodio looked like he was in a class all his own.
The Hammonton, N.J., resident and 2023 Twins Cup runner-up put in two dominating performances on Friday and Saturday to take victory by more than 11 seconds in both contests after being the fastest rider in all three practice and qualifying sessions at the March 7-9 round.
Rodio wasn’t the only rider of the team’s three-athlete lineup to find success at the Daytona round, as Twins Cup rookie Alessandro Di Mario scored a podium finish in his second MotoAmerica race aboard an Aprilia RS 660. And MotoAmerica veteran Ben Gloddy scored a top-five finish after not having ridden his Aprilia since the season-ending round at New Jersey Motorsports Park last year.
The event started off well for all three Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering riders, with Rodio pacing the field in practice on Thursday morning by more than 1.5 seconds and Gloddy and Di Mario finishing the session third-fastest and eighth-fastest, respectively. Rodio continued his impressive form later Thursday in Qualifying 1, taking provisional pole by 0.342 seconds. Gloddy finished that session in sixth place and Di Mario in seventh.
Twins Cup Qualifying 2 on Friday morning saw Rodio cement his grip on pole position while improving his best lap time on his Aprilia RS 660 by more than a second. Gloddy ended up qualifying fifth and Di Mario seventh.
Friday afternoon’s Race 1 proved Rodio was able to maintain the blistering pace he’d shown in qualifying over the course of a nine-lap race. Though he missed out on grabbing the holeshot, Rodio moved up to the race lead later on Lap 1 and never relinquished it, gradually building a large gap to the rest of the field and taking the win by 11.493 seconds. Gloddy and Di Mario were part of a multi-rider battle that was to determine the other two podium places. Di Mario came oh-so-close to getting a podium finish in his first Twins Cup race, but the draft on the long run to the finish line allowed another rider to best him for third place by a mere 0.087 seconds. Gloddy missed out on a top-five finish in similar fashion. He finished sixth -- 0.343 seconds behind the rider ahead of him.
Race 2 took place Saturday morning and was the scene of another commanding effort from Rodio. Though he battled with another rider for the first lap, Rodio regained the lead on Lap 2 and began building another large gap – eventually finishing the race more than 11 second ahead of the scrap for the last two podium places. Gloddy and Di Mario were again in the mix for a podium finish, and Di Mario finished third after being edged out for second place by 0.044 seconds. Gloddy scored a fifth-place result and came within 0.041 seconds from taking fourth place.
Rodio's blistering one-lap pace also was on display at Daytona. He lowered the all-time MotoAmerica Twins Cup lap record to a 1:55.193 in Friday morning's Qualifying 2 session, then bested that the next day in the morning warm-up session with a lap time of 1:55.119. He also lowered the race lap record during Saturday's Race 2 to a 1:55.413 -- 0.132 seconds faster than the previous record.
The Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering team will be back in action next month at the next MotoAmerica Twins Cup round, which takes place April 21-23 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga.
Gus Rodio / Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering
“I’m super happy with a perfect weekend in Daytona. We couldn’t ask for anymore, and I’m excited to keep this momentum going into the next round."
Alessandro Di Mario / Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering
“I’m really happy with how my first time at Daytona turned out. It was a challenging weekend for sure, but we were able to get some solid points for the championship. I want to thank the team for all the work they did behind the scenes, and I am really looking forward to the next rounds. Bring on Atlanta!”
Ben Gloddy / Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering
“I had a great weekend being back on the Aprilia RS 660 and had some solid finishes for not riding since New Jersey last year! I am hoping I can continue riding with the Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering team for the rest of 2024.”
Rodio Racing - Powered by Robem Engineering's technical partners for the 2024 season include Spellcaster Productions, Luxestar VIP, Geoscape Solar, MAR Contractors, Blud Lubricants, Spiegler Performance, Woodcraft Technologies, Dymag Performance Wheels, Millennium Technologies, Sprint Filter, Dunlop, SC Project, MVR Endeavor, GRG Designs, REB Graphics, NGK Spark Plugs, EvolveGT and N2 Racing.
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This press release has been prepared by Marino Communications on behalf of Robem Engineering. If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Michael Marino at 614.636.0199 or michael@marinocommunications.com
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