The 11th round in Spain that Superbikes fear

9/21/2021

Everything you ever wanted to know about Brembo pads for the Jerez round and for your motorcycle.

The World Superbike Championship stays in Spain, but moves a thousand kilometers further south to Andalusia. According to the Brembo technicians who work closely with 17 World Superbike riders, the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto is a very demanding circuit for brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, it is rated 4 on the difficulty index, the same as Navarra and Aragon but lower than Barcelona.

The track’s 4,423 meters (2.75 miles) alternate between slow, fast and super fast turns: the 13 turns account for 31% of the total length and provide numerous opportunities for overtaking. The considerable changes in gradient call for a bike that is easy to handle and well balanced as well as guaranteeing stability when braking.

Pads named (almost) like a car

Z04 sintered pads are the most commonly used Brembo pads in the World Superbike Championship. The friction coefficient exceeds 0.8 even at 50°C (122°F) and does not drop below this threshold until 400°C (752°F). The result is stable and consistent performance even at high disc temperatures, making fading less likely.

Some riders use front pads with the radiator. These are fixed to the pistons and therefore not at risk of tilting when mounting the wheel. This makes for a faster replacement of the front wheel. The radiator also limits the overheating of the brake fluid.

The pads for street-legal bikes

Brembo Z04 pads are a real Factory Pad also available for the most popular supersport bikes. However, these pads are not suitable for road use or even occasional use because their low temperature efficiency is below that of many others. The Z04s have much higher wear on the road than the latter.

For anyone who only uses their bike on the road, Brembo has four versions available: the organic CC for softer and more modulated braking, the sintered SP (specifically for the rear wheel), SA and LA. The highest performing of these is the SA, identified by its red paint, with friction coefficient that increases as the pad heats up. The SA also performs reasonably well in occasional track use.

To remove any doubt about the right brake pads for your bike, check out our special report.

Thirty-three

Just like MotoGP, with the exception of the third and twelfth turns, the Superbike riders use their brakes on the other 11 corners of the circuit. The length of time that brakes are used on the lap is also similar: 33.5 seconds for the superbikes and 33 seconds for the prototypes which complete a whole lap in 1.5 seconds less than the Superbikes.

With the exception of the first and sixth turns, the drop in speed during braking is the same for the two categories. This is not the case for deceleration - the Superbikes only exceed 1.1 G on a couple of braking sections whereas the MotoGP riders do this 5 times each lap. The load on the brake lever, on the other hand, is 43.4 kg (95.6 lb) per lap for the Superbikes and 39 kg (85.9 lb) for the MotoGP bikes.

Almost one meter for each km/h

Of the 11 braking sections at the Circuito de Jerez, a couple are classified as highly demanding on the brakes whereas 5 are of medium difficulty and 4 are light.

Unlike MotoGP, the most demanding braking for the Superbikes is turn 6: the Superbikes come on to the bend at 271 km/h (168 mph) and after braking lose 208 km/h (129 mph), slowing down to 63 km/h (39 mph) in just 224 meters (244 yards). To do this, riders use their brakes for 5.1 seconds, exerting a load of 6.2 kg (13.7 lb) on the brake lever.