The race that defines a whole season, perhaps even more: it’s the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with its 93rd edition scheduled from June 11 to 15. Since the inaugural edition in 1923, it has been organized by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), a club with over 38,000 members united by their passion for motor racing.
In fact, the event officially began on June 6 with scrutineering held in Place de la République, in the heart of Le Mans, a French town located in the Sarthe department, in the Pays de la Loire region.
24 hours of Le Mans data
According to Brembo technicians working closely with 19 of the entered Hypercars, all 16 LMP2s, and 20 of the 24 LMPGT3s competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 13.626 km Circuit de la Sarthe requires braking in 11 of the 21 corners.
On average, Hypercar drivers use the brakes for 43.5 seconds per lap, which equals 20 percent of the entire race. The maximum deceleration they face is 3 g, while the cumulative brake pedal load from the 11 braking zones reaches 757 kg per lap.
The toughest corner
The most demanding corner on the Circuit de la Sarthe for the braking system of Hypercars is Turn 7 (Daytona Chicane), where cars decelerate from 331 km/h to 114 km/h in 5 seconds, covering a distance of 301 meters.
Drivers are subjected to a peak deceleration of 3 g and apply a 79 kg load on the brake pedal. The braking system reaches a pressure of 66 bar, while the braking power peaks at 4,200 kW.
Other demanding corners
Each lap, there are five occasions where drivers use the brakes for at least 5 seconds. In terms of pedal load, system pressure, and braking power, the most demanding is Turn 8, with figures of 91 kg, 76 bar, and 6,900 kW respectively.
Braking at Turn 9 (Virage Mulsanne) ranks second with 2.6 g of deceleration, 90 kg of pedal load, and 6,800 kW of braking power. Also noteworthy are the figures at Turn 14 (Virage Porsche), where despite a speed drop of just 77 km/h, braking requires 222 meters and 3 seconds.
The first of a long series
In over a century of history, the braking systems of the race cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mans have undergone countless evolutions. Brembo made its debut at Le Mans in the 1980s, supplying a few privateer teams. Things changed in 1989 when Brembo’s 14-inch ventilated discs and calipers equipped the Sauber-Mercedes C9, which claimed both victory and second place.
That car reached 400 km/h, too fast for the FIA, which the following year introduced two chicanes on the Mulsanne straight—despite the effectiveness of the Brembo brakes.
Winning one edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is already a remarkable achievement, but repeating it is never easy. That’s why claiming around 30 of the last 35 editions, as Brembo has done, is proof of overwhelming technological superiority.
Even more impressive is that Brembo’s victories at Le Mans were achieved by cars from eight different manufacturers.
Yes, eight, starting with the first win in 1989 with the Sauber-Mercedes team, which also finished second that year. Since then, Brembo brakes have triumphed on German, Japanese, French, Italian, and British cars.
The hypercar braking system
Cars equipped with Brembo brakes have won 31 editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including the last two with Ferrari, along with countless class victories. The current Brembo braking system for Hypercars consists of aluminum-lithium calipers, carbon discs measuring 380 mm in diameter and 38 mm in thickness with 432 ventilation holes, and Brake-by-Wire technology—further proof of Brembo’s key role in the field of mechatronics. In lab tests, Brembo discs have exceeded 6,000 km—well beyond the 5,411 km covered by the winning car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The LMP2 braking system
In addition to Hypercar prototypes, the 24 Hours of Le Mans also features LMP2 entries, fielded by independent teams. These cars use Brembo aluminum calipers with round-section pistons, carbon discs 34 mm thick and 380 mm in diameter.
The Brembo discs for LMP2 have only 48 ventilation holes—just one-ninth of those used on Hypercars—because of their lower performance levels.
The LMPGT3 braking system
LMPGT3 cars instead use cast iron discs, as carbon is prohibited by regulations: each disc is 35 mm thick with a diameter of 390 mm, and the braking ring is attached using a multi-tooth coupling system.
As these cars are slower than those in the other two classes, the total race distance they cover is significantly shorter. Consequently, the discs are designed to last just over 4,000 km. They work in conjunction with Brembo monobloc calipers and sintered material brake pads.