MotoGP returns to Spain for the 8th round of the season at the Aragon GP, traditionally held in September or October.
The MotorLand circuit is one of the few on the calendar run counterclockwise. The first Aragon GP was held in 2010, just a year after the track’s inauguration.
In total, 15 GPs have been staged here – including a double-header in 2020, one of which was rebranded as the Teruel GP.
The GP data
According to Brembo engineers working trackside with all MotoGP riders, the 5.077 km MotorLand Aragon ranks among the most demanding circuits for braking systems.
On a scale from 1 to 6, it scores a 4 in brake difficulty due to its 10 braking zones: 3 are classified as Hard Braking, 3 Medium, and 4 Light. Riders are on the brakes for 30.5 seconds per lap—about 29% of total race time. There's only one corner where deceleration exceeds 190 km/h.
The toughest corner
Turn 1 is the most brutal for braking hardware: MotoGP bikes slam from 293 km/h down to 93 km/h in just 4.7 seconds, covering 234 meters. Riders apply a 4.9 kg load on the brake lever, experiencing 1.5 g of deceleration. Brembo brake fluid pressure spikes to 10.6 bar, while carbon disc temperatures edge past 500°C.
Marc's kingdom
Marc Marquez reigns supreme at MotorLand with 7 victories: his first in 2011 aboard a Moto2 Suter, followed by five MotoGP wins with Honda, and his most recent last year with Ducati in the premier class.
The only other rider with more than two wins here is Sam Lowes, who triumphed in Moto2 in 2016 and claimed both Aragon GPs in the 2020 double-header forced by the pandemic.
Moto2 brakes: then and now
In 2011, Marquez finished second in the Moto2 World Championship despite missing the last two rounds due to injury. He rode a Suter for Emilio Alzamora’s team, equipped with 290 mm front and 218 mm rear steel discs mounted with floating bushings. The setup featured 4-piston radial calipers with Z04 sintered pads up front, and a 2-piston axial caliper with h38 pads at the rear—all courtesy of Brembo.
The current setup
Back then, Moto2 bikes barely cracked 280 km/h while MotoGP machines flirted with 330 km/h—reflected in their vastly different braking systems. Over the last 15 years, Brembo’s R&D has leapfrogged forward.
Since 2023, Moto2 bikes now run finned 4-piston calipers derived from MotoGP, and on certain tracks, they swap standard discs for finned versions. Combined front and rear, today’s Moto2 braking setup weighs around 6 kg.