At the university of Assen, the latest from Valentino

6/20/2023

 Last appointment before the summer break, the Assen TT is the only one of the races of the first World Cup (1949) that’s still being run today, even though the track layout has changed several times since then.

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Last appointment before the summer break, the Assen TT is the only one of the races of the first World Cup (1949) that’s still being run today, even though the track layout has changed several times since then. According to the Brembo technicians who work closely with all the MotoGP World Championship riders, the TT Circuit Assen is not very demanding on the brakes.

On a scale of 1 to 6, it is rated 2 on the difficulty index, the lowest of the European races. Assen has a maximum speed of 320 km/h (193 mph) but, thanks to the many fast bends, the braking systems are really able to cool down. And it’s precisely the presence of so many bends that makes it the best test-bench for the rims bearing the name of Marchesini - one of the Brembo Group brands.



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From Valentino to today, Brembo for everyone

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Six years ago at Assen, Valentino Rossi enjoyed the last success of his career, beating Danilo Petrucci by just 63 thousandths of a second. That gave The Doctor the umpteenth record of his career: 20 years and 311 days between his first and last GP victories. All 115 of Valentino’s wins involved the use of Brembo braking components.

He won his first GP in 1996 in Brno on an Aprilia RS125 fitted with a 2-piece front caliper with axial connection, with 4 pistons and a 273 mm diameter disc. Brembo still pays great interest in the lower categories today too: it supplies all the calipers for the Moto2 and Moto3 teams, along with 90% of the pumps, 80% of the brake pads and 50% of the steel discs

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It seems like Superbike

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Despite its 18 bends, there’s a lot of driving on the TT Circuit Assen, with several fast bends and 10 braking points on every lap, although on half of them the deceleration is less than 80 km/h (50 mph). The riders use their brakes for 27 seconds on each lap (amounting to 30% of the whole race), thanks to the 9 braking points of at least 2 seconds each.

This track was used for the Superbike race two months ago but, for the production-derived machines, those same 10 braking points called for 27 and a half seconds of braking time per lap. Thanks to the higher speeds in MotoGP, the braking spaces are slightly longer, as is the G-force and the load on the lever. in fact, in MotoGP each rider exerts a load of 11 metric quintals (1100 kg, or (2425 lbs) on the lever between the starting line and the checkered flag.

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Nearly 7 kg (15.5 lb) and 240 m (262 yards)

Of the 10 braking sections at the TT Circuit Assen, only one is classified as highly demanding on the brakes, whereas 3 are of medium difficulty and the remaining 6 are light.

The downhill braking point at the Haarbocht bend (turn 1) is where the riders and braking systems have to work the hardest: the bikes come in at 291 km/h (181 mph), and the riders brake for 4.5 seconds in which they cover 240 m (262 yards).

To get down to the 119 km/h (74 mph) necessary to take the bend, the riders have to apply a 6.8 kg (15 lb) load on the lever and are subjected to a deceleration of 1.4 G.

 



And in the video games?


To handle the first bend of the TT Circuit Assen well in the MotoGP video game, it’s vital to make no mistakes and lose no speed when leaving the chicane that comes before it.

To understand when to start braking, take a quick look to your left: when the guardrail turns red and the colored curb begins, drop down to second gear. Passing over the curb is pretty much the only option, so you don’t leave any gaps for your rivals.