The first 3 editions of the Hungarian round were held at the Hungaroring, a clockwise circuit.
The new Balaton Park Circuit, on the other hand, runs counter-clockwise.
Located just a few steps from the shores of Lake Balaton, the new venue offers a mix of slow and fast corners. MotoGP will also race on this track in August.
GP data
According to Brembo engineers, who work closely with 12 of the 14 World Superbike teams, the 4.115 km Balaton Park Circuit falls into the category of medium-demanding tracks for braking systems.
On a scale of 1 to 5, it earns a difficulty index of 3 because riders use the brakes in 8 of the 17 corners for a total of 28 seconds per lap.
There are 5 braking sections classified as “High” severity, but all are spaced by at least 2 corners, allowing the braking system to cool down before the next heavy load.
As in MotoGP, the hardest corner for the braking system at Balaton Park Circuit is Turn 5: Superbikes are expected to slow from 269 km/h to 69 km/h in 4.6 seconds over a distance of 201 meters, with riders applying a load of 4.9 kg on the brake lever.
Deceleration peaks at 1.5 g, and Brembo brake fluid pressure reaches 10.6 bar.
The 4 Bimota podiums
The World Superbike Championship was born in 1988, and after debuting at Donington Park, the Hungarian round took place. Unlike the previous system, points were awarded for each race individually rather than by summing times.
Pole position was claimed by Davide Tardozzi on a Bimota, but Race 1 was won by Fred Merkel on the RCM Honda ahead of Tardozzi and his teammate Stéphane Mertens. Race 2 again saw two Bimotas on the podium, with Mertens 2nd and Tardozzi 3rd, while victory went to Adrien Morillas on a Kawasaki.
Merkel and Rumi
Fred Merkel won four of the six World Superbike races held at the Hungaroring: Race 1 in 1988, a double win in 1989, and Race 1 in 1990.
The American rider was the first World Superbike Champion in 1988 and defended his title in 1989, always riding the Honda of Oscar Rumi’s team, who, like Brembo, hailed from Bergamo. Notably, his RC30 was one of the few at the time fitted with Brembo brakes, as confirmed by the sticker on the bike’s front fairing.
A thousand of these races
In Hungary, the Superpole Race will mark the 1,000th race in World Superbike history.
The most successful rider is Jonathan Rea with 119 victories, followed by Toprak Razgatlioglu with 69 and Álvaro Bautista with 63. Completing the Top 5 are Carl Fogarty with 59 wins and Troy Bayliss with 52.
All their 362 victories were achieved using Brembo brakes, which, counting other riders as well, have surpassed 900 wins. In fact, in the last 18 years, only one World Superbike race has been won by a bike not equipped with Brembo components.