After the Australian round dominated by Italian bikes (6 Ducati podiums and 3 Bimota podiums), the Superbike World Championship lands in Europe for the remaining 11 events of the 2026 season, the first of two in Portugal.
This is the 25th round in Lusitanian territory, the 18th in Portimão, which made its World Championship debut at the twilight of the 2008 season: Troy Bayliss won both races with Ducati and immediately after, the Australian hung up his helmet.
GP data
According to Brembo technicians who work closely with 13 of the 14 teams in the Superbike World Championship, the 4.592 km long Autodromo Internacional do Algarve falls into the category of circuits that are moderately demanding on brakes. On a scale from 1 to 5, it has earned a difficulty rating of 3, despite the presence of 11 braking points per lap, as only one is classified as High, 6 as Medium, and 4 as Low. In one lap, Superbike riders use the brakes for 28 and a half seconds.
The toughest corner
The toughest corner of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the braking system is the first one because the speed drops from 305 km/h to 124 km/h. Through a load of 4.8 kg on the brake lever applied for 3.8 seconds, riders experience a deceleration of 1.5 g. During this phase, Superbikes cover 224 meters, one of the longest braking distances in the entire championship. Meanwhile, the brake fluid pressure reaches 10.3 bar.
The Italian trio
Thanks to the hat-trick achieved in Australia, Nicolò Bulega has become the most successful Italian rider in the Superbike World Championship: with 23 victories, he has surpassed Marco Melandri (22) and Max Biaggi (21). Bulega is the only one of the three to have achieved all his wins with a single brand, Ducati, whereas Biaggi triumphed with Suzuki and Aprilia, and Melandri won with Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, and Yamaha. All of their 66 victories, however, were achieved using Brembo braking components.
To each their own
For the Superbike World Championship, Brembo provides teams with steel discs (carbon is banned by the regulations) with diameters of 336 mm and 338.5 mm. There are significant differences in terms of thickness, with values of 6.5 mm and 7.1 mm for the smaller ones, and 6.2 mm, 6.8 mm, and 7.4 mm for the larger discs. The choice varies depending on the circuit, except for one team that, to better adapt to the electronic and engine braking qualities of its bike, uses high mass discs, i.e., high-band discs, for the entire championship.
The disc for everyone
Born from the experience gained in MotoGP and Superbike, the Brembo T-drive disc is available for every enthusiast who wants to ensure improved braking power, extreme resistance to prolonged thermodynamic stress, and consistent performance. The coupling between the braking band and the hub is achieved with 8 T-pins that replace the traditional drag pins. The benefits are remarkable, both in terms of weight reduction and through radial and axial floatation, which results in greater braking torque.