ALESSANDRO DI MARIO IS 2024 MOTOAMERICA TWINS CUP CHAMPION ON HIS RODIO
RACING — POWERED BY ROBEM ENGINEERING APRILIA RS 660
THE 15-YEAR-OLD ROOKIE FROM KENTUCKY CLAIMS POLE, WINS TWO RACES TO CLINCH
APRILIA’S SECOND TWINS CUP TITLE IN FOUR YEARS
AUSTIN, TX — 15 SEPTEMBER 2024 — Coming into the MotoAmerica Twins Cup finale at Circuit of
the Americas, Alessandro Di Mario had a 19-point deficit in the championship standings. Thanks to a
dominant performance throughout the race weekend, matched with unfortunate luck of championship
rival, Di Mario became the second rider to win a Twins Cup title aboard an Aprilia RS 660.
Di Mario’s pace was unchallenged all three days of the Sept. 13-15 event, as he was the fastest rider in
every practice and qualifying session and won both Twins Cup races by large margins en route to
taking the title by 31 points. Di Mario, the 15-year-old from Kentucky, completed his rookie season
racing in Twins Cup with three victories, six additional podium finishes and three pole positions
over the course of 12 races.
Aprilia has now won half of the championships it has contested since homologating the RS 660
for MotoAmerica Twins Cup in 2021, where it raced to a championship in its first year, and has
remained a contender each year after. The RS 660 continues to provide performance and confidence to
riders and racers, as an accessible platform for development. The Aprilia RS 660 was responsible for
17 podium places over 12 races to finish the 2024 season, and has totaled over 70 podiums in the
Twins Cup Championship since arriving four seasons ago. In the final 2024 Twins Cup
championship standings, five of the Top 10 riders raced an Aprilia RS 660.
Di Mario finished both Friday on-track sessions at the top of the time sheets, and nearly half of the top
10 riders in both sessions were riding Aprilia RS 660s. Di Mario was the fastest rider by more than a
second in Friday morning practice. Di Mario’s teammate, Gus Rodio, finished that session sixth-fastest,
and EasyHealthPlans.com/TopPro Racing Team’s Avery Dreher and Ghetto Customs’ Chris Parrish
were seventh- and ninth-fastest, respectively.
Friday afternoon’s Qualifying 1 session saw Di Mario put an even bigger stamp of authority on the rest
of the Twins Cup field, as he lowered his best lap time from practice by about half a second to
provisionally qualify first and was 2.280 seconds faster than the next-fastest rider. Rodio improved his
best lap time by more than a second to provisionally qualify fourth, and Dreher and DRC’s Tyler Duffy
ended Qualifying 1 in eighth and ninth place, respectively.
Saturday morning’s Qualifying 2 was the scene of Di Mario cementing his grip on pole position while
lowering his best lap time of the weekend by more than another half a second. Three other Aprilia riders
qualified in the top 10 for the weekend’s two Twins Cup races – Rodio in fourth, Dreher in seventh and
3D Motorsports’ Romeo Chiavini in ninth.
The Saturday afternoon Race 1 was a two-part affair, as a red flag midway through the race had little
effect on Di Mario’s front-running pace. Di Mario didn’t get the best start but quickly recovered and still
led the field into Turn 1. The race was stopped on Lap 4 due to a crash, and Di Mario ran in second
place for the first two corners of the first lap before resuming the lead at Turn 3. Di Mario was the
leader at the end of all five laps of the restarted race and clinched his second victory of the season
by a margin of 6.969 seconds.
The win, combined with Di Mario’s championship rival failing to finish the race, allowed Di Mario to take
the championship lead for the first time this year by a margin of six points. Rodio’s third-place result
gave Aprilia two riders on the podium, and other Aprilia riders Parrish, Chiavini and Duffy ended up
sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Sunday afternoon’s title-deciding Race 2 saw Di Mario continue his dominant form and was more than
enough for him to cement his grip on the title. Though Di Mario was raced tough by his championship
rival early in the first lap, Di Mario gradually broke away from the rest of the field to get his first double
victory in Twins Cup competition and secure the title by 31 points. Rodio, Dreher, Duffy and Parrish
finished Race 2 in fourth-, seventh-, eighth- and 10th-place, respectively.
Other Aprilia riders to finish in the top 10 in the final championship standings include Rodio
(fourth), Dreher (seventh), Chiavini (ninth) and Parrish (10th).
Of the 35 riders registered to compete in the MotoAmericaTwins Cup at the Circuit of the Americas
round, more than half of them (18 riders) were slated to race Aprilia RS 660s.
Alessandro Di Mario / Rodio Racing — Powered by Robem Engineering
“I am extremely happy to have won the championship. I couldn’t have done it without all my
sponsors and my amazing team. Thank you everyone!”
Matthew Spicer / Owner, Robem Engineering
“We are obviously happy with the result for the 2024 season. We’ve been partnered with the
RS 660 in Twins Cup since its release. The project is maturing as you can see with Aprilia
taking the top step in 6 of the 12 races this season in a series contested with 3 manufacturers
participating.
Robem Engineering is proud of the efforts everyone involved. We started working with
Alessandro after he won the Aprilia RS 660 Trofeo Cup in Italy. We wanted to celebrate his
success and had him join us at the GNF that resulted in Alessandro claiming the Nicky Hayden
award and have been working with him ever since.
It’s really rewarding watching the young riders progress and the RS 660 has proven with
multiple riders to be the bike that lends itself to being almost instantly comfortable and
competitive on track with minimal modifications needed.”
