Brembo Brake Facts for Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

3/10/2016

Brembo compiled the most important things to know about the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the season opening race of the 2016 Verizon INDYCAR Series season.

The Circuit
St. Petersburg is a very demanding track for the brakes due to the different types of road surfaces including concrete, painted sections and expansion groves on the short temporary 1.8-mile street circuit. St. Petersburg has seven braking zones and drivers will spend at least 20% of their time on the brakes. In 2015, Will Power set a new qualifying track lap record of 1:00.6931, which means he spent at least 12 seconds on the brakes on his fastest lap around the circuit.

Hardest Braking Zone – Turn 1
The frontstraight is a drag strip for the INDYCAR teams. The longest, straightest, fastest and most challenging portion of the track. Normally used as an airport landing strip, the frontstraight has painted numbers and expansion groves that offers different braking grip through the first turn. Drivers will reach more than 160 mph in this section and need to decelerate to about 65 mph to enter Turn 1. With less than 400 feet to brake, this is an optimal passing zone.

Hardest Braking Zone – Turn 4
Turn 4 is another passing zone with a combination racing surface of both concrete and asphalt. Drivers will have to modulate their braking in this section over the different surface types. Drivers have less than 400 feet to brake in Turn 4 and should experience 2.23 Gs of deceleration.

Hardest Braking Zone – Turn 13
The last corner on the track Turn 13, is also very tough because the movement in the car. In what could be categorized as a hairpin turn, this is the slowest section on the track, but one of the most critical. Drivers will maneuver through the chicane, tap the brakes to slow down and then carry the momentum to Turn 14 and onto the frontstraight for another lap.

Other braking factors – The weather
Since the race is mid-March and in Florida, the weather is always a factor. If it rains, the painted numbers on the airport landing strip will be slippery. Those slick areas could be in the optimal racing line, which will force drivers to fine another racing line or carefully drive through the slick segments of the track.

The Brembo brake system
The Brembo brake system is an engineered six-piston, monobloc aluminum caliper machined from billet with titanium-radiated pistons (28/30/36 mm) with a weight of two kilograms. The innovative system of lightweight carbon-carbon discs and carbon pads will provide consistent performance with the new aerodynamic improvements.

Brembo at St. Petersburg
In addition to serving as the official brake supplier for the Verizon INDYCAR Series, Brembo is also the brake of choice for 17 entries competing in the Pirelli World Challenge Round 3 and 4 taking place at St. Petersburg.