The Aragon 2020 MotoGP Grand Prix according to Brembo

10/13/2020

A guide to the Brembo braking systems for the premier class, and their use at MotorLand Aragón

According to the Brembo technicians who work closely with all the MotoGP World Championship riders, MotorLand Aragón is one of the most highly demanding circuits for the brakes. On a difficulty index scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 4 - equaled only by the other Spanish track, Jerez.

At the end of August, it played host to the Superbikes whose lap time was just 2.2 seconds slower than the MotoGP bikes, despite their maximum speed peaks being lower. It's also true that in the first 2 km (1.2 miles) of the track there are 7 braking sections, that certainly don't help the braking system to cool down: the quick sequence of throttle-off moments between the start and the first intermediate timing point risks creating problems for the brakes.

The variations of the Brembo thumb pump

More than one third of the MotoGP riders regularly use the thumb pump. Brembo provides two main types: the standard configuration involves connecting the thumb pump and pedal with the rear master cylinder, in combination with a 2-piston rear caliper, in a single circuit.

This was the one that Brembo came up with in the 1990s, but it didn't offer the possibility to activate the rear brake with the thumb pump and the pedal at the same time; only one of the two could be used. The version with two separate circuits, on the other hand, allows the rider to use both of them simultaneously thanks to the Brembo 4-piston rear caliper: each circuit, in fact, acts on just two of the four pistons.

Brake use during the Aragon MotoGP Grand Prix

Like with Superbike, the MotoGP riders use their brakes on 11 of the 17 bends at MotorLand Aragón; the carbon brakes of the premier class are used for 33 seconds on every lap though, compared with 31 seconds for the Superbike steel brakes. This means a difference in the percentage of use as well: 31% of the whole MotoGP race, compared with 28% for Superbike.

On the other hand, the Superbikes are ahead in terms of the total load exerted on the brake lever during one lap: 41.4 kg (91.3 lbs) compared with 40.4 kg (89.1 lbs) for the MotoGP bikes. With the latter, however, the load employed on the first three braking sections of the track (bends 1, 3 and 4), along with the sixth (bend 8) and the last (bend 16), is greater than for the production derived bikes.

The most demanding braking section of the Aragon GP

Of the 11 braking sections at MotorLand Aragón, 2 are classified as demanding on the brakes, 4 are of medium difficulty, and the remaining 5 are light.

As for the Superbikes, the most demanding throttle-off moment for MotoGP is on bend 16: at the end of the 968-meter (0.6 miles) straight, the bikes go from 337 km/h (209 mph) to 143 km/h (89 mph) in 4.6 seconds. To make this happen, the riders apply a load of 6 kg (13.2 lbs) on the brake lever and are subjected to 1.5 G deceleration, while the pressure of the brake fluid hits 12.9 bar.