Seven days after the new attendance record at Mugello, MotoGP lands in the Netherlands for the Dutch TT, which has already taken place 75 times: since 1949, the year the World Championship began, it has only not been held in 2020 and has hosted as many as 283 world championship races.
The original 16.54 km layout was used until 1954, followed by the 7.7 km version and, in 1984, the 6.1 km one.
The current layout has been in use since 2006, although small modifications have been made since then.
The GP data
According to Brembo technicians working closely with all MotoGP riders, the 4.542 km TT Circuit Assen is among the least demanding tracks on the brakes.
On a scale from 1 to 6, it scores a difficulty index of 2 because only 2 of the 10 braking zones are classified as Hard, compared to 3 Medium and 5 Light. In a single lap, riders rely on the brakes for 26.5 seconds with a total load on the brake lever of almost 33 kg.
The toughest corner
The most demanding corner for the braking system at TT Circuit Assen is the first one after the finish line: MotoGP bikes slow down from 292 km/h to 116 km/h in 3.7 seconds, covering 201 meters while the riders apply a load of 4.9 kg on the brake lever.
The deceleration is 1.5 g, Brembo brake fluid pressure reaches 10.5 bar, and the carbon disc temperature approaches 680°C.
Give me five
Several editions of the Dutch TT held in years ending in 5 have gone down in history. In 1975, the 500cc GP saw Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini finish with the same time, due to timing then being limited to tenths of a second: victory was awarded to the Briton.
In 1985, Honda locked out the top six positions in the premier class, with Randy Mamola taking the win.
In 2015, the race was held on a Saturday for the last time: Valentino Rossi prevailed after a last-corner contact with Marc Marquez.
Doohan’s thumb
In 1995, Mick Doohan took the win, at the same track that nearly cost him his career—and his right leg—due to a crash during qualifying in 1992. Dr. Costa of the Clinica Mobile took care of his health.
Brembo contributed to his sporting comeback by developing a special thumb-operated rear brake master cylinder, allowing him to operate the rear brake without using the pedal, as modulating pressure with the injured leg was problematic.
With this solution, Doohan went on to win 5 500cc World Championships.
For everyone
Back in fashion over the last five years, the Brembo thumb master cylinder is now used both by riders with large feet who struggle to operate the rear brake in right-hand corners and by those who use it to prevent rear-wheel sliding mid-corner.
In this way, the thumb master cylinder acts as a sort of traction control, helping riders stay tighter to the apex and straighten the bike more quickly. This component is also available as an upgrade for track day enthusiasts.