Rodio takes victory in first MotoAmerica Twins Cup Race of 2023
Rodio Racing powered by Robem Engineering rider leaves Daytona round with championship lead
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It wasn’t Gus Rodio’s first time racing an Aprilia RS 660 at Daytona International Speedway, but the New Jersey rider kicked off the new-for-2023 Rodio Racing — Robem Engineering collaboration by scoring a win and runner-up finish at the opening round of the 2023 MotoAmerica Twins Cup season.
Rodio piloted his Aprilia to commanding win in his first race with the new team and come oh-so-close to scoring a second triumph at the March 9-11 event.
Rodio’s teammate, New Hampshirite Ben Gloddy, had a positive start to the Daytona round before suffering an unfortunate injury that did not allow him to finish Friday’s Race 1 or contest Saturday’s Race 2.
In the Twins Cup’s first on-track session of 2023, Rodio ended Thursday practice at the top of the time sheets. He best the next fastest rider for the best time in the class’ only practice session by 0.064 seconds. Gloddy finished practice fifth-fastest. Later Thursday, Rodio and Gloddy finished Qualifying 1 fourth- and sixth-fastest, respectively.
Friday morning saw Rodio secure fourth on the starting grid in the second and final qualifying session. He missed out on pole by a mere 0.216 seconds. Gloddy wrapped up qualifying in sixth place.
The Daytona round’s first Twins Cup race took place Friday afternoon and saw Rodio put in a dominant performance. Rodio moved up two places in the first several corners and was battling for the lead before the end of Lap 1. Gloddy also got a good start and ran as high a third before another rider crashed in front of him at the exit of the west horseshoe. The crash forced Gloddy to take evasive action, but unfortunately the crashed bike made contact with Gloddy’s RS 660, which caused Gloddy to crash. What was a three-way battle for the lead between Rodio and two other riders in the middle of the nine-lap race gradually became a one-rider show as Rodio pulled away from the other frontrunners to win by more than eight seconds.
Unfortunately for Gloddy, he suffered an injury when he was forced off track that did now allow him to take part in Saturday’s Twins Cup Race 2.
The second race was an eventful one for Rodio, who made the most of a race restart to extend his lead in the Twins Cup points standings. Rodio’s motorcycle began exhibiting a problem with its fuel cap on the warm-up lap, which caused Rodio to pull back into his pit box while the rest of the field was forming up for the race start. The team worked relentlessly to get the motorcycle repaired in time to rejoin the race, and a short time later the race was stopped on Lap 3 due to a crash.
The race was restarted with its original starting grid and five laps to go, and Rodio once again quickly made his way forward to the battle for the lead. He was in the race lead at the end of Laps 1, 3 and 4 and gradually broke away from the rest of the field with another rider. Rodio put in a valiant effort to get a good drive out of the backstraight chicane but was bested to the finish line by 0.162 seconds. Rodio’s second place added 20 valuable championship points to his tally, and he leaves Daytona with a nine-point lead in the class standings.
The MotoAmerica Twins Cup’s next round takes place April 21-23 at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Ga.
Gus Rodio / No. 96
“It was an awesome first race of the season. I was able to break away from the pack and win my first Twins Cup race. It was my biggest margin of victory and I’m very happy. In Race 2, I broke away from the pack with another rider and had a race long battle for the lead. I ended up second in a close finish. I’m really happy with this result as I didn’t think we would make it on track due to an issue we had. I’m really excited to get to Atlanta and keep working towards our goals.”
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, Evolve GT, N2 Racing, Dunlop, Spellcaster Productions, Kathedral, The Martinn and MVR Endeavor.
More, from a press release issued by N2 Racing/BobbleHeadMoto:
N2/BobbleHeadMoto Blake Davis Scores Two Top Five Finishes at Daytona.
Media, PA – March 2023 – N2/BobbleHeadMoto Racing’s Blake Davis leaves Daytona with a pair of fourths place finishes in Twins Cup and an 11th-place finish in his first Daytona 200. Blake was fast in every session scoring pole position in Twins Cup and leading both races, but small mechanical issues prevented Davis from capitalizing on his speed. Blake also competed in his first Daytona 200 with a Blake Davis Racing / Biothermal Yamaha YZF-R6 running with some of the best riders in the country in the final laps.
Blake was fast from the moment the team unloaded the championship winning N2/BobbleHeadMoto Yamaha YZF-R7. Blake led nearly every session and qualified on pole despite a crash in Q2. Blake just missed out on a chance at the Time Attack Qualifying session for the Daytona 200 and qualified on row four in 13th place.
Championships are about scoring maximum points on your bad days and that is exactly what Blake did. In Twins Cup Race One, Blake battled for the lead for most of the race until he started having temperature issues with his R7 that require that he back off a bit to make it to the finish in fourth place.
Twins Cup Race Two was very similar with Blake having race winning speed in the beginning, but suffering some minor technical issues. Instead of crashing or pulling in, Blake stayed out and nursed his Yamaha R7 to the finish in fourth place. These two fourth place finishes leave him fourth in the points, 19 points back from Gus Rodio.
Blake’s focus in 2023 is defending his Twins Cup Championship, but Blake will participate in several Supersport rounds on his Blake Davis Racing / Biothermal Yamaha YZF-R6. The Daytona 200 was Blake’s first Supersport race and he did not disappoint. Despite having an issue at the start that saw him fade back to well outside the top 20, Blake kept fighting for the entire race, putting in fast, consistent laps. The N2/BobbleHeadMoto/Blake Davis Racing team gave Blake two great pit stops which put him in the lead group for the final 10-lap sprint. Sixteen-year-old Blake Davis battled with the best, most experience racers in the country for those last 10 laps, running as high as second place. In the end, Blake finished sixth on the race track, but a pit lane speeding penalty pushed him back to 11th. An amazing result for Davis’ first Daytona 200.
Blake Davis – “It was a tough weekend on the Yamaha YZF-R7 in Twins Cup. We were fast straight away and always in the mix, but we had some technical issues related to a crash that kept us from reaching our potential. It was positive that we brought home solid points in every race, and we are in decent shape to start the season. The Daytona 200 was awesome! I made a mistake in the beginning, but we fought the entire race and it was so much fun battling with the lead guys. Thanks to my N2/BobbleHeadMoto crew for an awesome R7 and thanks to Biothermal for all the support with the R6.”
Shiloh Salopek (Crew Chief) – “This was a tough weekend for the team, but we were able to leave with valuable championship points from both races and the knowledge to be more prepared for the next round at Road Atlanta in April.”
About N2: N2 – Ride, Race, Learn.
Founded in 2014, N2’s mission is to build a sustainable motorcycle community through safe, structured motorcycle track days, advanced rider training programs based on Yamaha Champions Riding School teaching methods, with a strong affinity for motorcycle road racing. N2 successfully resurrected Motorcycle Endurance Racing in America partnering with WERA Roadracing and creating the N2/WERA National Endurance Series by Dunlop. N2 is a premier participant in the MotoAmerica Pro Racing Series with a multi-rider team competing in several classes. N2 is also a major contributor to the Roadracing World Action Fund through fundraising efforts and support from its large member base.
N2 Racing is proudly sponsored by: Dunlop Motorcycle Tires, Yamaha Motor Corporation USA, Dainese, BobbleHeadMoto, Trading Paint, GB Racing, Spider, Yoshimura, STM, Sunstar, Giaccmoto, Robem Engineering, Puig, Eazi Grip, SBS Brakes and Yamaha Champions Riding School.