Brembo unveils the 2019 Austrian MotoGP

8/5/2019

 An in-depth look at the premium class' use of braking systems on the Red Bull Ring

Six weeks after having hosted Formula 1, the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (Austria) will be home to the 11th appointment of the MotoGP season. ​

The bikes will enter the track from 9 to 11 August, just 7 days after the Czech Republic GP. ​

Located near the Zeltweg military airport, the racetrack was recently renovated thanks to a push by Dietrich Mateschitz. ​

The MotoGP bikes were first introduced to the new circuit in 2016, and they immediately picked up speed, racing around the track at 186 km/h (116 mph) on average for the qualifying session. ​

The track has few curves, only 10, with the many straightaways concentrated near the finish line. Brakes are not needed for every bend. ​

Curiously, however, there is not a single bend where MotoGP bikes brake that Formula 1 single seaters don't brake as well: the intensity is different of course; there's no comparing the speed with which the cars and the bikes face the curves. ​

The many undulations of the track complicate the drivers' choice of timing braking: there's a 65 meters (213 feet) difference between the highest and the lowest point, and the steepest slope has a 9.3 percent incline. ​

 

 

According to Brembo technicians, who assist 100% of the 2019 MotoGP pilots, the Red Bull Ring is very demanding on the brakes. 

On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 5 on the difficulty index, the same score given to the tracks in Barcelona, Motegi and Sepang.


 

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The demand on the brakes during the GP

On one full lap, the MotoGP riders use their brakes 7 times for a total of 28 seconds.
As we noted before, Formula 1 cars also brake 7 times in each lap but for a total of just 9.8 seconds.

Over the 28 race laps at Spielberg each MotoGP bike uses its brakes for some 800 seconds, that's just over 13 minutes.
Last month, on the other hand, the winner of the Formula 1 GP completed the 71 laps of the Austria GP using Brembo calipers for just 10 minutes and a half.
Average deceleration per lap for the MotoGP is 1.23 g, which is second highest value of the championship: an incredibly high value when we notice that the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio brakes from 200 km/h to 0 km/h with a 1.15 g deceleration.
​Summing up all of the forces applied by a rider on the Brembo brake lever from the starting line to the checkered flag, the result is about 0.9 tonnes.


 

The most demanding braking sections

Of the 7 braking sessions at the Red Bull Ring, the first 3 are very hard on the brakes, as well the penultimate, while the remaining 3 are of low difficulty. ​

The most challenging session is Castrol Edge (curve 1) since it is located at the fastest point on the track, despite being slightly uphill: the MotoGP bikes reach the bend at 312 km/h (193.9 mph) and then brake for 4.4 seconds to slow to 99 km/h (61.5 mph).​
Riders put 5.9 kg (13 lbs) pressure on the brake lever and are subjected to a 1.5 g deceleration. Formula 1 single-seaters reach this same section at a slightly higher speed (331 km/h, 205.7 mph), but are able to enter the curve at 158 km/h (98.2 mph) and, most importantly, can slam on the brakes without fear of flipping over: braking only lasts 1.57 seconds and 99 meters (325 feet), less than half the distance (229 meters, 751 feet) required by the MotoGP bikes.​

The braking time and distance are even greater for Rauch (curve 4), partly due to the downhill slope: 274 meters (899 feet) and 5.7 seconds to come down from 292 km/h (181 mph) to 85 km/h (53 mph). 

Here deceleration is 1.4 g, while for Formula 1 drivers it gets up to 5.2 g. 

The pressure of the Brembo HTC 64T brake fluid in the MotoGP bikes climbs to 11.9 bar, while it peaks at 12.6 bar for Castrol Edge. ​

Remus (curve 3) is the slowest on the track with a speed of 64 km/h (40 mph) on entry. Riders clamp on their brakes for 5.5 seconds putting a 5.1 kg (11.2 lbs) load on the lever. The comparison with the four wheelers is less stark since the F1 brakes are used for 2.59 seconds to drop to 84 km/h (52 mph) after braking. ​

 

 

Brembo performance

Bikes with Brembo brakes have won 11 editions of the Austrian GP: the first 4 victories went to Yamaha (3 with Eddie Lawson), followed by Honda with an equal number of wins (3 by Michael Doohan). ​

In last 3 years the only winner was Ducati with Andrea Iannone, Andrea Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez have never won in Austria.