MotoGP brakes almost twice as much as Formula One at Barcelona

5/31/2021

MotoGP braking, the MotoE brake system and the Brembo upgrades for every type of motorcycle

After last year’s event which was held at the end of September, the Spanish GP returns to its original slot. According to the Brembo technicians who work closely with all the MotoGP World Championship riders, the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is a very demanding circuit for brakes.

On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 5 on the difficulty index, on a par with the Red Bull Ring, the Twin Ring Motegi and the Sepang International Circuit. The brake system is subjected to huge stress on the first corner due to the 1,047 meter (0.6 mi) long straight preceding it. Almost all the other braking episodes are short and close together.

Brembo and Energica

As well as supplying calipers to all the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 riders, Brembo supplies the brake system on all 18 Energica Ego Corsa motorcycles on the track this weekend for the third round of the MotoE World Cup. They all have a monobloc front caliper made from billet with varying diameter pistons made of titanium.

The steel discs, on the other hand, are T-Drive ones with a 336 mm (13 in.) diameter, a thickness of 7.1 mm (0.3 in.), and a specially designed configuration. A radial master cylinder made from billet with a 19 mm (0.75 in.) diameter and 18 mm (0.7 in.) center distance, designed to guarantee response, modularity and linearity between the force applied to the lever and braking response, completes the brake system.

From electric motorcycles to customized components for everyone

Brembo calipers are also in prominent display on the Eva Ribelle, the only all-electric streetfighter in the world and on the Eva EsseEsse9, both made by Energica. Another electric motorcycle with Brembo calipers is the Harley-Davidson Livewire: It has four 32 mm (1.2 in.) pistons at the front and two 34 mm (1.3 in.) pistons at the rear.

That’s not all – Brembo also develops brake systems for Naked, Touring, Custom, Offroad and Motard motorcycles by creating ad hoc solutions for each one. Not everyone settles for OE components though. The Upgrade program which offers a wide range of pads, discs, calipers and brake master cylinders is designed to meet their needs.

Find the brake component that best suits your needs.

14 seconds more than Formula One 

On every lap of the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, riders have to use their brakes 9 times for a total of 29 seconds, 30% of the duration of the race. The Formula 1 single-seaters, on the other hand, use their brakes for less than 15 seconds each lap, amounting to 16% of lap time.

On each lap, the MotoGP riders exert a load of over 34 kg (75 lb) on the brake lever. From the starting line to the checkered flag, the value exceeds 8.2 kg (18 lb), by far the lowest of the 4 Spanish World Championship tracks. However, in F1, the load on the brake pedal that each driver exerts in one lap in Barcelona reaches 8 kg (17.6 lb).

269 meters (294 yards) of braking 

Of the 9 braking sections at the Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit, 3 are classified as demanding on the brakes, 4 are of medium difficulty and the remaining 2 are relatively light.

The most demanding hard braking for MotoGP is on the first corner: The motorcycles go from over 330 km/h (205 mph) to 99 km/h (61.5 mph) in just 5 seconds and cover a distance of 269 meters (294 yards). To do this, riders apply a load of 5.4 kg (12 lb) to the brake lever and are subjected to 1.5 G deceleration, while the brake fluid pressure soars to 11.6 bar.