Ducati makes its debut in MotoE at Le Mans with Brembo brakes

5/9/2023

 Less than one month after the famous 24 Hours which got the World Endurance Championship off to a start, the Bugatti Circuit hosts the French GP.

​

Less than one month after the famous 24 Hours which got the World Endurance Championship off to a start, the Bugatti Circuit hosts the French GP. According to the Brembo technicians who work closely with all the MotoGP World Championship riders, this track is one of the most highly demanding circuits for brakes.

On a scale of 1 to 6, it is rated 4 on the difficulty index, the highest rating in this first part of the championship together with Jerez. To avoid the risk of the discs exceeding an ideal temperature, many riders use High Mass discs which have a high braking band. This material is now often used when it rains too thanks to special covers.



​​ ​​
 

The new era of MotoE

​​

Revolutions are all the rage in France and MotoE is no exception: once known as the World Cup, this year the championship earned the title of World Championship thanks to improvements in the performance of the motorcycles, all made by Ducati, as we have seen in various tests.

All these motorcycles have Brembo brake systems including a 338.5 mm diameter (13.3 inch), 6.8 mm (0.26 inch) thick T-Drive steel dual front disc with fins on the inner diameter to improve cooling. The GP4RR M4 32/36 front monobloc caliper machined from billet is also Made in Brembo as is the PR 19/18 radial master cylinder.

​

​

​

 

​

Constant braking from turn 6 to turn 9

​​

For each lap on the Le Mans circuit, the riders use their brakes 9 times for a total 29 seconds, the equivalent of 32% of the entire Grand Prix. However, they are not used uniformly because the brakes are used just 2 times on the first 5 turns and never for more than 3 seconds each time. From turn 6 to turn 9, on the other hand, they are always in use and for extended periods, from 3.3 seconds to 4.9 seconds on each turn.

Obviously, this stops the brakes from cooling down and explains why so much force is required of the entire system. The transalpine track is also characterized by a lack of deceleration of at least 190 km/h (118 mph). The total force exerted on the brake lever by each rider is also high from the start to the finish of the standard races, almost 970 kg (2138 lb).

​

​

​

 


233 meters (254 yards) of braking

Of the 9 braking sections on the Le Mans circuit, 2 are classified as demanding on the brakes, 4 are of medium difficulty and the remaining 3 are relatively light.

The hardest braking section for the MotoGP bikes is on Turn 9: the bikes go from 292 km/h to 105 km/h (181.4 to 65 mph) by braking for 4.5 seconds while the pressure of the brake fluid rises to 10 bar.

The riders exert a load of 5.2 kg (11 lb) on the brake lever, are subjected to 1.5 G of deceleration, and in the meantime cover a distance of 233 meters (254 yards).

 

And in the video games?

Tackling Turn 9 on the Bugatti Circuit in the MotoGP video game is not as easy as it seems: first of all, move over onto the right-hand side and keep an eye on the billboards.

Accelerate as you pass the first one and as soon as you see the yellow and blue rubber walls behind the second one, slam on the brakes.

As you go under the bridge lean into bend without overrunning the trajectory since the turn 10 is to the right.