Brembo unveils the 2019 Italian MotoGP

5/28/2019

An in-depth look at the premium class' use of braking systems at the Autodromo del Mugello

From 31 May through 2 June, the Autodromo del Mugello will host the 6th round of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship season.

Since 1976, the track in the province of Florence has hosted the World Championship GP, but only since 1994 has it been the Italian GP permanent headquarters.

Valentino Rossi has raced there since 1996 and he has taken 9 wins in all the categories, always using Brembo calipers, discs and pads Brembo.

The 5,245 meters (3.26 miles) of the track that winds its way through the Tuscan hills stand out for their frequent slope changes: if you risk lacking the necessary speed to make it up the uphill turns after braking too much, on the downhill corners you run the opposite risk, namely running long because you have braked too late.

The track also boasts one of the longest straights on the Championship calendar (1,141 meters, 3,743 feet) that demands a powerful engine and, naturally, a top notch braking system so you won't lose whatever you have gained on the straight in braking.

This explains why 100 percent of the MotoGP riders rely on Brembo systems - a valid choice for all of the 2019 World Championship races.

The 14 remaining turns, on the other hand, are spaced rather evenly along the track, giving the carbon discs time to cool, despite the high temperatures that the asphalt usually reaches. According to Brembo technicians, the Autodromo del Mugello falls into the category of those tracks with medium difficulty for the brakes.

On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 3 on the difficulty index, the same score given to Le Mans (which, however, has much shorter straights) and 8 other tracks.

The demand on the brakes during the GP

Just like the Qatar GP, the Autodromo del Mugello also has a braking session at over 350 km/h (217 mph) and all the others are lower than 270 km/h (168 mph). In all, the MotoGP riders use their Brembo brakes 9 times per lap, for a total of 30 seconds, which translates into 28 percent of the entire race.

Of all the Grand Prix races held this year, this is the lowest percentage: at Jerez, this value was 31 percent and in other three circuits it was 30 percent. Average deceleration is 1,11 G, identical to the values at Silverstone and Aragon.

Adding up all of the force a rider applies on the brake lever from the starting line to the checkered flag, the result comes in at more than 830 kg (1,830 lbs).

During one lap at Mugello, the riders apply a force of almost 36 kg (79 lbs) on the brake lever.

The most demanding braking sections

Of the 9 braking sections on the Autodromo del Mugello, only 2 are classified as demanding on the brakes, whereas 4 are of medium difficulty, and the remaining 3 pose only a light challenge on the braking systems.

The most difficult braking section is the San Donato corner (turn 1): at the end of a downhill section, the MotoGP bikes arrive at 355 km/h (221 mph) (a bit faster with the slipstream) and enter the corner at 93 km/h (58 mph). To manage this, the riders brake for 6 seconds, during which they travel 334 meters (1,096 feet). The deceleration is brutal 1.5 G and it exceeds by 0.18 G that of the Porsche 911 GT3. The load on the lever is 6.4 kg (14.1 lbs) and the Brembo HTC 64T brake fluid pressure reaches 13.7 bar.

That pressure reaches 9.1 bar on turns 10 (Scarperia) and 12 (Correntaio): in both cases, the bikes arrive at less than 240 km/h (149 mph) and brake for less than 5 seconds, but the load on the lever is still 4.2 kg (9.3 lbs).

Noteworthy are the 209 meters (686 feet) of braking at turn 15 (Bucine) due to its downhill configuration: the MotoGP bikes go from 262 km/h (163 mph) to 112 km/h (70 mph) in 4.3 seconds and maximum deceleration touches 1.4 G.

Brembo performance

Brembo brakes have won the last 26 Italian GP races, including the 1993 edition held at Misano. After all, just two weeks ago Brembo celebrated 24 consecutive years since its last 'non-victory' in a 500-MotoGP race: an incredible streak, especially considering that, unlike the tires, all the teams can freely choose the braking system that they deem best.

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