Brembo unveils the 2019 Spanish MotoGP

4/30/2019

An in-depth look at the premium class' use of braking systems at the Circuito de Jerez

With the 3 non-European rounds out of the way, MotoGP heads to Spain for the 4th round of the 2019 season, scheduled to take place from 3 to 5 May on the Circuito de Jerez. Opened on 8 December 1985, this track has hosted the premier class since 1987. Oddly enough, however, in 1988 the race was labeled the Portuguese GP because the Spanish GP was held in Jarama.

In 1992 it became the first track in the Championship to replace the hay bales with airfences. The 4,423 meters (2.75 miles) of the track alternate between slow, fast and very fast corners. The 13 turns (8 right-handers and 5 left-handers) represent 31 percent of the total length and provide numerous places for passing. The significant changes in slope demand a bike that handles well and that is well balanced, in addition to being stable in braking.

Once again this year, 100% of the bikes participating in the MotoGP championship are equipped with Brembo brakes and Brembo's engineers have assigned a difficulty index for the brakes to each circuit on the calendar.

According to the Brembo engineers who assist all the MotoGP riders, the Circuito de Jerez is the most demanding track on brakes in the first third of the season, in other words, out of the first 6 Grand Prix races. On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 4 on the difficulty index, the same score as Aragon and Brno.

The demand on the brakes during the GP

On every lap, the riders will have to use the brakes 10 times for a total of 30 seconds. In absolute terms, that is not excessively high, especially if compared with the 37 seconds per lap at Austin and the 39 at Sepang. However, on these two tracks, the lap records range from 1’59’’ to 2’04’’, whereas at Jerez lap times are 1’38’’.

The presence of 2 moderate braking sections, in other words, with less than a 25 km/h (15.5 mph) drop in speed, translates into an average race deceleration of just 1.13 G. Lowering this average are the values of 0.7 G on turn 4 and 0.8 G on turn 10.

Adding up all the force the rider applies on the Brembo brake lever from the starting line to the checkered flag, the value is greater than 950 kg (2,094 lbs), a value that Losail also reaches. In practical terms, on each lap, the rider has to apply a force of 38 kg (84 lbs).

The most demanding braking sections

Of the 10 braking sections on the Circuito de Jerez, 2 are classified as demanding on the brakes and 5 are of medium difficulty. The remaining 3 have a low impact on the braking systems.

The most complicated braking section is on the sixth turn (Dry Sack). The riders begin to brake at 293 km/h (182 mph) and complete the operation only after 5.3 seconds, during which they cover 242 meters (794 feet).

In order to drop to 68 km/h (42 mph), they apply a load of 5.4 kg (11.9 lbs) on the brake lever and undergo maximum deceleration of 1.5 G.

Braking operations on first turn (Expo 92) are also quite difficult. The MotoGP bikes go from 282 km/h (175 mph) to 86 km/h (53 mph) in 219 meters (719 feet) and 4.6 seconds. However, the load on the lever (5.6 kg, 12.3 lbs) is higher, as is the pressure of the Brembo HTC 64T brake fluid (11.9 bar) and deceleration is 1.5 G, which is 0.3 G higher than the 200 km/h (124 mph) to 0 of a Porsche 993 Turbo.

Also noteworthy are the braking system's 9.4 bar on the second turn. The MotoGP bikes brake for 3.3 seconds to set up the turn at 67 km/h (42 mph), but the deceleration is only 1.1 G.

Brembo performance

Brembo brakes have won 28 out of the 40 Spanish GP editions, including the last 25. Yamaha has won 2 of the last 4 editions, but Honda boasts no less than 18 wins with Brembo brakes. This year, Valentino Rossi is chasing his 10th win at Jerez. He won in 1997 in the 125 class, in 1999 in 250, in 2001 in 500 and 6 times in MotoGP. Each time he won, he was using Brembo brakes.