Brembo provides in-depth insight into the use of premier class braking systems at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit.
After a spectacular start to the championship, MotoGP flies to South America for the Argentine GP which will take place from March 29 to 31 at the Autódromo de Termas de Rio Hondo.
Located in the Santiago del Estero province in northern Argentina, the circuit was designed by Italian Jarno Zaffelli. The brakes chosen by all the teams and all the drivers in the premium category are also Italian, Brembo naturally.
Every year, the Autódromo de Termas de Rio Hondo hosts dozens of automobile competitions and when the MotoGP motorcycles land in Argentina, they find themselves on a very dirty track. During the first free practice session of 2016, there was a lot of sand on the asphalt and the times were recorded in 1'43"-1'44". Those times were reduced by more than three seconds less than 24 hours later, and by another second during Q2.
According to Brembo technicians, the Autódromo de Termas de Rio Hondo belongs to the category of circuits that present a medium level of difficulty when braking. On a scale of 1 to 5, it scored a 3 on the difficulty index, the same score given to nine other tracks including Losail, which hosted the first race of the season.
Demand on the brakes during the Grand Prix
The track's 14 curves correspond to eight braking points, including three in T4. Despite these slowdowns, T4 remains the fastest of the four intermediate sectors of the route.
Only Phillip Island, Spielberg and Buriram with seven braking zones per lap, have fewer braking zones than Termas de Rio Hondo.
Each lap, drivers brake for around 30 seconds, the same time spent braking at Jerez, Mugello and Assen. The total braking time during the entire Argentine GP is 12,5 minutes, or 30% of the total race duration.
The average deceleration per lap is 1,2G and this statistic would be higher if the rapid braking required in curve 11 (from 202 km/h to 156 km/h), with 0,9G, did not lower this average.
Adding up all the force applied by a driver on the Brembo brake lever from the start line to the checkered flag, the result exceeds 750 kg. Only on Phillip Island is there less physical effort required from pilots. In Barcelona, Misano and Valencia, on the other hand, the total load on the brake lever, from the starting line to the checkered flag, exceeds a ton. MotoGP bikes are fitted with 320mm or 340mm Brembo carbon discs while Superbikes use steel discs, so even though the physical demand is low in MotoGP, the Argentine GP demands more strength from MotoGP riders than Superbike riders.
The most demanding braking sections
Of the eight braking sections of the Autódromo de Termas de Rio Hondo, only two are considered very demanding in terms of braking, four are of medium difficulty and two are light. Curve 5 is the most difficult because it is preceded by a straight line of 1.076 meters where the MotoGP motorcycles reach 324 km/h.
This short hairpin turn requires drivers to descend to 81 km/h, brake for 6 seconds and apply a load of approximately 5,1 kg to the Brembo master cylinder lever.
At this precise moment, the Brembo HTC 64T brake fluid pressure reaches 10,9 bars, while the motorcycles travel just over 297 meters.
The first braking after the starting line is worth mentioning due to its length of 243 meters: MotoGP bikes go from 277 km/h to 108 km/h there, but the deceleration is only 1,4G to 1,5, 5G at turn XNUMX.
Third important point, braking at turn 7: from 241 km/h to 93 km/h in 186 meters with braking in 4,3 seconds for 1,2G of deceleration and 4,5 kg of load on the lever.
Brembo Performance
The last time a 500cc/MotoGP bike without Brembo brakes won the Argentine GP was in 1982. In 1987 in Buenos Aires, Eddie Lawson took first place with the Yamaha of Team Agostini, which he had entrusted to Brembo Brakes a year ago.
In the 1990s, the Argentine GP was won three times by the Honda of Mick Doohan, who benefited from the thumb master cylinder designed and built by Brembo engineers after the rider's terrible accident during the Country GP. -Low 1992.
The five editions of the Argentine GP contested at the Termas de Rio Hondo were also won by MotoGPs equipped with Brembo brakes: Two victories for Marc Márquez, one for Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow and Maverick Viñales.
Ducati and Suzuki have never won at Termas de Rio Hondo, nor has Jorge Lorenzo.
