Looking for a Repeat Victory at Martinsville

MARTINSVILLE, Va., March 28, 2008 – Since its Introduction last summer, Brembo’s new front monobloc caliper has been a big winner in both the Nextel and Busch series last year. Brembo intended the new caliper for use at the heaviest braking tracks, such as Martinsville’s ½-mile oval and Watkins Glen’s road course.

In the eight races that the new caliper was used last year, Brembo-equipped teams finished on top of the podium six times, including Richmond, Loudon, Martinsville and Phoenix in the Cup and Montreal and the Glen in the Busch series. At the Cup races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen, Brembo teams led the most laps on the new caliper as well.

One could easily make a point that the new Brembo six-piston caliper was a factor in Jimmy Johnson winning his second-straight NASCAR Cup championship as three of his five wins during “The Chase” were on this exact caliper. Both Johnson and Brembo look to repeat this weekend at this season’s first “brake demanding” race.

Brembo, a world leader in engineering, development and production of high-performance braking systems and components, was established in 1961 in Bergamo, Italy.

The front six-piston caliper will be joined by a new rear monobloc, four-piston caliper at Martinsville. Both have internal body brake fluid passages, first introduced to NASCAR by Brembo in 2005, and both integrate caliper cooling through the caliper body itself by way of a carbon-fiber caliper air duct that passes across the caliper body, as well as forcing air between the brake pad and caliper pistons to limit the heat migration from the brake pads into the caliper. A significant reduction in caliper temperature is achieved as a result. The internal brake fluid passages integrated into the caliper body itself eliminates the need for an external fluid cross-over tube that can be punctured during a pit stop tire change from being hit with a wheel.

Both calipers are designed for increased caliper stiffness at increased temperatures. This superior caliper stiffness is realized at a dynamometer-tested temperature of 360 degrees F and is run through over 100,000 braking cycles in order to insure the integrity of the caliper stiffness, as well the caliper’s durability. Impressive considering that during a normal Martinsville NASCAR race the brakes are used 1,000 times.

Racing teams and manufacturers, who demand the best, turn to the experts in braking technology and performance: Brembo. The strong support and trusted relationships that Brembo has with more than 30 original equipment manufacturers and hundreds of championship-winning race teams in F1, WRC, NASCAR, IndyCar and sports cars, is based on the fact that Brembo is the industry benchmark. There is no other company or product line on the market that can match Brembo's level of technology and performance.

Brembo is an engineering company with over nine percent of its 5700 employees dedicated to research, development and innovation where Brembo spends 5.2% of its total turnover. Brembo has 25 production and business sites in 12 countries worldwide.

Brembo offers a comprehensive line of brake components and systems ranging from original equipment and aftermarket replacement parts, to racing and high-performance upgrades, as well as performance motorcycle and commercial vehicles components and systems.

As a global supplier, Brembo manufactures over 32 million brake rotors a year for more than 30 different OEMs, including Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chrysler, General Motors, Ford, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lexus, Maserati, Mercedes, Nissan and Porsche. 2007 market consensus sales are 912 million Euros ($1.249 billion).

Brembo, AP Racing and Marchesini are wholly owned brands of Brembo S.p.A.

For more information visit us at www.brembo.com/US or contact Brembo North America.