After a month’s break, the Superbike World Championship moves to Europe, the venue for all remaining events on the calendar.
The second round of the season is scheduled in Portugal, which has hosted the Superbike since 1988, when the race was held at Estoril. In total, there have been 22 rounds held in Portugal, 6 at Estoril and 16 at Portimão. This weekend, the race takes place at Portimão, a circuit opened in October 2008, costing just under 200 million euros.
The GP data
According to Brembo technicians who work closely with 12 of the 14 teams in the Superbike World Championship, the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, with a length of 4.592 km, is considered to be a medium-level challenge for the brakes. On a scale from 1 to 5, it has earned a difficulty index of 3, despite having 11 braking points per lap, only one of which is classified as High. For all the other braking points, the deceleration doesn’t exceed 1.3 g.
The toughest corner
The hardest corner at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the braking system is the first one, with a speed loss of just under 200 km/h. By using the brakes for 4.3 seconds, the Superbikes go from 311 km/h to 121 km/h while covering a distance of 250 meters. Riders apply a force of 5.4 kg on the Brembo lever and experience a deceleration of 1.5 g, while the brake fluid pressure reaches 11.6 bar.
The last of two legends
Superbike made its debut at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on November 2, 2008: both races were won by Troy Bayliss, who also achieved pole position and recorded the fastest laps in both races. Thanks to that double win, Bayliss reached 52 Superbike victories before retiring. Over 16 years have passed since then, and no Australian rider has been able to win even a single race in the Superbike World Championship. This long drought is a source of sadness for all fans.
The braking system of the time
In 2008, Troy Bayliss won his 3rd Superbike World Championship aboard the brand-new Ducati 1098 from the Factory Ducati team. That bike was equipped with Brembo monobloc radial-mount calipers machined from billet, featuring 34mm pistons and 4 Brembo Z04 sintered pads, which were in their early stages back then. The discs were made of 320 mm diameter steel, 6 mm thick, preferred over ventilated discs that tended to overheat quickly.
Current choices
Thanks to Nicolò Bulega's triple win at the first round of the season this year at Phillip Island, Italian riders have surpassed Australian riders in the national rankings: 121 wins for Italians in the Superbike World Championship, 118 for Australians. On the Ducati Panigale V4R, Bulega uses the Brembo pump with an index that is used to operate the rear brake during braking as well as during acceleration. Additionally, the 2024 World Championship runner-up uses a brake master cylinder with a 19x18 rotary sensor to check the lever travel.