Brembo Algarve Grand Prix: the new era in braking

11/3/2021

Brembo is on the track at Portimão with its own brakes on the 22 motorcycles in the race and with SENSIFY off the track

Just like the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the Red Bull Ring and the Losail International Circuit, this year the Algarve International Circuit is hosting 2 GPs as well.

In next Sunday’s GP, the title sponsor is Brembo, which has chosen this event to promote Sensify, a pioneering intelligent braking system that combines the most advanced software based on artificial intelligence with brake components manufactured by Brembo.

Its name comes from merging the words Sense and Simplify, because it gives drivers new opportunities to improve their experience on the road and customize brake response according to their driving style.

SENSIFY will offer the best combination of braking under all conditions and at any time. That’s what we mean when we say that we want to give our customers the total safety they’re looking for.

To find out more about the Sensify project, go to the SENSIFY by Brembo S.p.A website.

Brembo for all 

Riding pleasure and total safety also underpin Brembo’s presence in motorcycle racing with brake calipers, discs, pads, fluids and master cylinders conceived, designed and manufactured specifically for each category from the track to off-road.

These solutions are clearly appreciated by the teams – even if they are not subject to any regulatory constraints, since 2016, 100% of MotoGP riders have been using Brembo components.

According to Brembo technicians, who work closely with MotoGP World Championship riders, the Algarve International Circuit is one of the circuits that is not very demanding on the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5 the track is ranked 2, the second lowest ranking in the 2021 championship after the TT Circuit Assen.

Five corners almost like the other 10

On the first 5 turns of the Algarve International Circuit, the brakes are in use for a total of 13.5 seconds whereas on the remaining 10 turns, they are used for 18.7 seconds: in the first case, the average is almost 3 seconds and in the other, it does not even approach 2 seconds.

On many of these corners, you can see the Brembo and Sensify LED banners and screens specially installed for the occasion, from the bridge over the starting line and the pit wall to the last corner.

From the starting line to the checkered flag, each driver exerts a total load of just over 800 kg (0.88 t) on the brake lever. The brake system is used in total for exactly one third of the entire Grand Prix. Of all the races in the Iberian Peninsula, only the Circuit Ricardo Tormo has a higher percentage.

Two very different twins

Of the 10 braking sections on the Algarve International Circuit, only one is ranked demanding for the brakes, 3 are of average difficulty and the remaining 6 are not particularly challenging.

However, both on the first and fifth corners, the MotoGP bikes brake for precisely 5 seconds, but in one case they reduce their speed by 218 km/h (135 mph) and in the other by 172 km/h (107 mph). The braking distances between the two are also different: on the first corner it is 299 meters (327 yards) and on the fifth corner, 212 meters (232 yards). The deceleration achieved by the riders is also different: 1.5 g compared with 1.2 g.