2023 Daytona REVIT Twins Cup Race 1: Rodio Pulls Away to Victory

Ryan Yearwood recaps the action from REVIT Twins Cup Race 1 in Daytona.

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The MotoAmerica REVIT Twins Cup began its 2023 season today at Daytona International Speedway.  Although still in its infancy, this class is proving to be a great transitionary space for riders coming through the Junior Cup and onwards to the Supersport category. 

The 2022 season was a bit of a points roller-coaster, with the championship coming down to the wire at the final round in Birmingham. It was N2 Racing’s Blake Davis who secured that championship, and he arrived in Daytona ready to defend his title.

Davis went straight to work on this goal by securing pole position, but went on to experience a scary high-side crash shortly after.  Stefano Mesa qualified second as he is temporarily filling in for Kayla Yaakov on the MP13 Racing Team.  Yaakov was set to make her Twins Cup debut, but is currently recovering from a pre-season injury. 

Race one began with decent temperatures, although under windy conditions.  It was Davis who shot out front from his prized grid position, followed closely by Gus Rodio.

Mesa experienced an unfortunate mechanical issue shortly after the race start and was forced to retire.

With a multiple rider incident taking out Dominic Doyle and Ben Gloddy, the battle out front was down to the three riders of Davis, Rodio, and Hayden Schultz.  Davis and Rodio spent a couple of laps drafting back and forth, as they started to pull away from Schultz.

It appeared as though Davis was possibly testing a draft strategy with four laps remaining, but Rodio passed him on the road course and quickly put distance between the two. 

Jackson Blackmon was in a seemingly lonely fourth position as the race dwindled down, but he began to reel in Hayden Schultz and made the pass with two laps to go.   

As Gus Rodio pulled away to win with an outstanding 8.5 second lead, Blake Davis was caught by the duo of Blackmon and Schultz. The N2 Racing rider tried to keep his Yamaha R7 in second place in the final sector, but as it goes in Daytona, the two riders behind him tucked into the draft and slipped past him before the checkered flag. 

Ryan Yearwood is the motorsports correspondent for SoBros Network as well as the pioneer and visionary behind SoBros Outdoors. Follow on Twitter: @OutdoorSoBro.

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