Gus Rodio Rides Aprilia RS 660 to Victory in MotoAmerica Twins Cup Season Opener at Daytona

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Gus Rodio Rides Aprilia RS 660 to Victory in MotoAmerica Twins Cup Season Opener at Daytona (Brian J. Nelson/)

Aprilia Press Release:

Aprilia rider Gus Rodio’s campaign to clinch the  MotoAmerica Twins Cup title he narrowly missed out on in 2023 could not have started in a better way. The Hammonton, N.J., resident piloted his Rodio Racing – Powered by Robem Engineering Aprilia RS  660 to two victories by impressive margins at the season-opening round of MotoAmerica’s 2024 Twins  Cup at Daytona International Speedway.

Rodio’s two wins were just a couple of the successes Aprilia RS 660 riders had on Friday and Saturday on the iconic facility’s 3.51-mile motorcycle road course layout. Rodio’s teammates – Twins Cup rookie  Alessandro Di Mario and veteran Ben Gloddy – and TopPro Racing’s Avery Dreher scored two podium  finishes and three additional top-five finishes between them. In total, Aprilia riders claimed 11 of the 20 total Top-10 finishes on the double race weekend.

Rodio’s eye-popping pace was evident from the first on-track session of the round, as his best lap in the Thursday practice session was more than 1.5 seconds faster than the rest of the field. Dreher posted  the second-best time, followed by Gloddy in third, Di Mario in eighth, Dreher’s TopPro Racing  teammate, Romeo Chiavini, in ninth and Righteous Racing’s Ray Hofman in 10th.

The first of two qualifying sessions took place later Thursday, and Rodio was again at the top of the time sheets with a lap time that more than a second faster than his best time in practice. Dreher was  third-fastest in the session, with Gloddy sixth-fastest, Di Mario seventh-fastest, Chiavini ninth-fastest  and Hofman 10th.

Qualifying concluded on Friday morning with Rodio having secured the first pole position of the 2024  MotoAmerica Twins Cup season by 0.822 seconds. Dreher qualified third, giving Aprilia two machines on the front row of the grid. Gloddy ended up qualifying fifth, Di Mario seventh, and Chiavini 10th.

Friday afternoon’s Race 1 saw Rodio gradually pull away at the front while Dreher, Gloddy and Di Mario  battled it out with two other riders for the last two steps on the podium. Rodio narrowly missed out on taking the holeshot but had assumed the race lead by the end of Lap 1 and led every lap thereafter – taking victory by a margin of more than 11 seconds. Gloddy, Dreher and Di Mario found themselves in a four-way – and in the closing laps five-way – fight for the podium, as the group took turns drafting and  re-drafting each other during the nine-lap race. On the run to the finish line, Dreher edged out Di Mario  for the last step on the podium by 0.087 seconds. Gloddy finished sixth, missing out on a top-five finish  by 0.343 seconds.

Other Aprilia riders who finished in the Top-10 include Chiavini in eighth and Hofman in 10th.

In Saturday morning’s Race 2, it took Rodio a little longer to break away from the field – but the result  was the same. Like in Race 1, Rodio slotted into second place as the field reached Turn 1 for the first  time and moved into the lead later on the first lap. Though another front runner drafted by Rodio to lead  at the end of Lap 1, Rodio reassumed the lead on Lap 2 and led the remainder of the race.

Unfortunately for Dreher, an incident on Lap 1, Turn 1, caused him to crash heavily, and he was unable  to rejoin the race. When the rider running in second place retired from the race on Lap 4, it allowed Gloddy, Di Mario and two other riders to have a four-way go at the last two podium places. Like in Race  1, riders in the group took turns drafting and re-drafting each other. Di Mario finished in third place – 0.044 seconds behind the second-place rider – and Gloddy clinched a top-five finish.

The other Aprilia riders who scored top-10 finishes include Hofman in eighth and Chiavini in ninth.

After two races, Rodio has amassed a 19-point lead in the points standings. Di Mario sits in third place  in the standings, Gloddy fifth, Dreher eighth, Chiavini ninth and Hofman in 10th.

Of the 26 riders registered for MotoAmerica Twins Cup at the Daytona round, 12 were slated to compete with Aprilia RS 660s.

The next MotoAmerica Twins Cup race takes place April 21-23 at the Road Atlanta circuit 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!”

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