Deceleration reaches 1.5 g, and the Brembo brake fluid pressure peaks at 14.4 bar — the highest value in the entire championship.
Before returning to Europe for the final two rounds, MotoGP hits the track for the twenty-fifth time at Sepang.
However, there have already been 32 Malaysian GPs held so far, as seven editions took place at Shah Alam and one at the Johor Circuit.
With the exception of Motegi, the Sepang International Circuit is the Asian track that has hosted the most World Championship races — a total of 71. Since 1999, the event was not held only in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.
The GP data
According to Brembo engineers who work closely with all MotoGP riders, the 5.543 km-long Sepang International Circuit falls into the category of circuits that are highly demanding on the brakes.
On a difficulty scale from 1 to 6, it scores a 5, as the brakes are used for almost 36.5 seconds per lap due to the presence of 11 braking zones: 4 are classified as High, 2 as Medium, and 5 as Low.
The toughest corner
The First Radial
In addition to being the first edition hosted by the Sepang circuit, the 1999 Malaysian GP also marked two other firsts: Kenny Roberts Jr. claimed victory in the 500cc class aboard the Suzuki equipped with Brembo calipers.
For the American rider, it was his first Grand Prix win, and it also represented the first triumph for radial calipers in the 500cc class — a technology Brembo had introduced the previous year on the Aprilia 250.
In the premier class, Suzuki was the first manufacturer to adopt them, and thanks in part to this innovation, the team secured four GP victories in 1999 after going winless in the previous three seasons.
From one Suzuki to another
The 1999 World Championship kicked off with the Malaysian GP, and the result was truly surprising: Suzuki returned to victory, ending a drought that had lasted since the 1995 German GP, when Daryl Beattie took the win. That race, 30 years ago, was the last in the premier class to be won by a bike not equipped with Brembo brakes.
Fittingly, it was Kenny Roberts Jr. who ended that barren streak aboard the RGV500, fitted with Brembo’s then-revolutionary radial caliper for the premier class — a solution that had already proven its advantages in 1998 on the Aprilia 250.
From zero to twenty
All 31 editions of the Malaysian GP in the 500cc–MotoGP class have been won by bikes equipped with Brembo braking components.
Five of these victories were claimed by Valentino Rossi, and an equal number by Mick Doohan, with Dani Pedrosa securing three wins. Honda leads with thirteen victories, followed by Yamaha and Ducati with eight each, and Suzuki with two.
Notably, KTM and Aprilia are still missing from the premier class winners’ list, although they have triumphed in the lower categories. Noale’s manufacturer has claimed 19 Malaysian GP wins in the 125cc and 250cc classes, always using Brembo brakes. Could this be the one to round things off?