With the World Championship awarded to Marc Marquez, MotoGP lands in Indonesia for the fifth-to-last round of the season.

The first edition of the Indonesian GP dates back to 1996, but that year, as well as in 1997, the races were held at the Sentul International Circuit, not far from Jakarta.

Since the World Championship returned to Indonesia in 2022, the races have instead been held at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit, located 1,300 km further southeast.

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The GP data

According to Brembo technicians, who work closely with all MotoGP riders, the 4.301 km Pertamina Mandalika Circuit falls into the category of medium-demanding tracks for brakes.

On a scale from 1 to 6, it has a difficulty index of 3, since only 2 of the 9 braking zones are classified as High and 3 as Medium.

Over the course of one lap, MotoGP riders use the brakes for less than 28 seconds, and only in 2 corners does the speed drop by at least 100 km/h.

The toughest corner

The toughest corner for the braking system at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit is Turn 1: MotoGP bikes go from 309 km/h down to 107 km/h in 4.5 seconds, covering 239 meters under a brake lever load of 5.7 kg.

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Deceleration reaches 1.5 g, and Brembo brake fluid pressure peaks at 12.3 bar.

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The first one

All premier class races of the Indonesian GP have been won by bikes equipped with Brembo brakes: in fact, the last victory in the 500cc class—replaced by MotoGP in 2002—on a bike without Brembo components dates back to May 21, 1995.

The inaugural edition of the Indonesian GP in 1996 was won by Mick Doohan on a Honda fitted with Brembo axial calipers. The Australian started from pole and led the race all the way to the checkered flag.

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An unexpected no

At that time, Brembo submitted to the HRC team’s technical manager some technical drawings for the first radial-mount caliper for motorcycles.

He closed the folder with the designs, bewildered and convinced that the solution was unfeasible, and also annoyed because he considered it sacrilegious.

Brembo’s engineers, however, did not give up, convinced that mounting the caliper on the fork would stiffen the entire braking system.

They were proven right, as just a few years later, radial calipers became the standard on the track.

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In search of a repeat victory

In the five editions of the Indonesian GP, there have been five different winners in Moto3, the same in Moto2, and likewise in MotoGP, with no rider winning in two different classes: the taboo could be broken by Diogo Moreira and David Alonso if they win in Moto2, and by Pedro Acosta and Somkiat Chantra if they triumph in MotoGP.

Brembo supplies 100% of the calipers, 90% of the brake master cylinders, 80% of the brake pads, and 30% of the steel discs to Moto2 and Moto3 teams.

A Moto3 braking system weighs 4.5 kg, while a Moto2 system weighs around 6 kg.

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