One week after the French GP, MotoGP returns to Spain for the Catalunya GP. Last year, it took place at the beginning of September, so the weather conditions and asphalt temperatures might be different.
On that occasion, there were 187,086 spectators, the highest figure since 2009. This marks the 35th consecutive year that the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has hosted at least one GP, but in 2024 it was also the venue for the Solidarity GP in November.
GP Data
According to Brembo engineers, who for the 11th consecutive year work closely with all MotoGP teams, the 4.657 km long Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya falls into the category of highly demanding circuits for brakes. On a scale from 1 to 6, it boasts a difficulty index of 5, due to the presence of 9 braking points per lap for a total of 29 seconds: 4 are in the High category, one is Medium, and the other 4 are Light. The 6.3 kg load on the brake lever at turn 10 is one of the highest values in the entire championship.
The toughest corner
The toughest corner of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the braking system is the first one: MotoGP bikes go from 341 km/h to 101 km/h in 4.9 seconds, covering 266 meters while riders apply a load of 6.2 kg on the brake lever. The deceleration is 1.5 g, the Brembo brake fluid pressure reaches 13.2 bar, and the temperature of the carbon discs rises to 780 °C.
From 2 to 4, everything changes
This year, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosts both MotoGP and Formula 1, championships in which Brembo has been present for half a century. Moreover, Brembo is the sole brake supplier for both categories, but the systems feature different design philosophies: for MotoGP, all teams use the same caliper, whereas for each single-seater, a customized caliper is designed to work in harmony with the characteristics of each car, offering the best in terms of power, lightness, and ventilation.
The only one to score a hat-trick
Valentino Rossi is the only rider to have won the Catalunya GP in all three classes that competed with two-stroke motorcycles: in 1997, he triumphed with Aprilia in the 125cc class, beating Kazuto Sakata by 6 seconds. The following year, the rider from Pesaro claimed victory again with Aprilia, this time in the 250cc class, with almost a 4-second lead over Tetsuya Harada. Not satisfied, he repeated the feat in the 250cc class in 1999. Then, in 2001, he won the 500cc race on a Honda with a 2.6-second margin over Max Biaggi. On all four of these occasions, Valentino Rossi relied on Brembo braking systems.
MotoGP Ventilation
The GP Catalunya is one of the few where all the manufacturers currently in MotoGP have triumphed. In 2003, thanks to Loris Capirossi, Ducati achieved its first victory in MotoGP. His Desmosedici GP 03 featured a perforated fairing at the front to keep the temperature of the mechanical parts under control. At the time, braking power was significantly lower than it is today (the top speed was 35 km/h less than current speeds), so there was no need to cool the brakes. In recent years, however, the issue has become evident, and Brembo has addressed it with fins on the caliper body and carbon discs.