Brembo Brake Facts for Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

4/14/2016

 Brembo compiled the most important things to know about the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season.

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​The Circuit

One of the most historic street circuits in the world. Long Beach is a good test of the driver’s ability to control brake pedal application to get maximum speed out of the car on the 1.97-mile temporary street circuit. Long Beach has nine braking zones and drivers will spend approximately 19.7 percent of their time on the brakes. In 2015, Helio Castroneves set a qualifying lap record of 1:06.6294 (106.331 mph), which means he spent at least 13 seconds on the brakes of his fastest lap around the circuit.

 

Front straight
Shoreline Drive, the main straight, is the fastest section of the race circuit followed by the best passing opportunity heading into Turn 1, the most demanding turn on the braking system.

 

Turns 2 through 5
Four right turns beginning at Turn 2 are really about the driver balancing the car with the brake pedal. Having a firm pedal that can be modulated well is crucial to get the car positioned on the right line.

 

Second-best passing zone
A tricky section, but the second-best passing zone is Turn 9, because of surface roughness – manhole covers, bumps, curbs and pavement changes litter this braking zone. The emphasis is on drivers getting peak braking ability early in the brake zone then reducing pressure to prevent lock-ups.

 

 
 

​The Long Beach Hairpin

The famous Turn 11 hairpin is the last corner on the circuit, where drivers do some prolonged trail braking. In 2012, IndyCar opened up the entry to the hairpin allowing enough room for cars to drive double file through the hairpin providing a late braking passing zone if drivers are brave enough.


 

Other braking factors – Support series

Grip changes dramatically on a street circuit, especially with multiple series on-track using various tire brands and compounds. In addition to the IndyCar race, the Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix weekend includes IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Pirelli World Challenge, Stadium Super Trucks, Super Drift Challenge and the Pro/Celebrity race.


 

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 Long Beach

In addition to serving as the official brake supplier for the Verizon IndyCar Series, Brembo is also the brake of choice for 15 of the 25 entries competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and 13 of the 24 teams competing in Pirelli World Challenge Rounds 5 and 6.