After a fanfare start in Qatar, with three different manufacturers on the podium in the Sunday race, the MotoGP travels to Europe for the second round of the season.
For the Portuguese GP, this is the fifth consecutive edition, all held at the Algarve International Circuit, a facility built at the initiative of Paolo Pinheiro and completed in October 2008, in time to host the final round of the Superbike World Championship.
GP data
According to the technicians Brembo who work closely with all MotoGP riders, the 4,59 km Autódromo Internacional do Algarve belongs to the category of moderately demanding circuits for the brakes. On a scale of 1 to 6, it got a difficulty rating of 3, because half of the 10 braking points are in the Low category and only 2 are in the High category. In addition, these last 2 are all contained in the first 5 turns, which facilitates the return of the system to acceptable temperatures in the other turns.
The most difficult turn
The most difficult corner of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the braking system is the first, thanks to the 969-meter straight that precedes it: by using the brakes for 4 seconds, MotoGP riders manage to reduce their speed from 330 km/h to 123 km/h covering 243 meters. To achieve this, they exert a load of 7 kg on the brake lever while the Brembo brake fluid pressure reaches 14,9 bars.
The local idol who slows down without exaggerating
During his first 5 seasons in MotoGP, the Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira won 5 GPs, all with KTM. The race that revealed his talent to the world was the 2020 Styrian GP: entering the final corner, Jack Miller braked late to overtake Pol Espargaró who was in the lead. Oliveira, then third, relied on the Brembo brakes as he always did, without exaggerating, and when the two bikes in front of him were forced to widen, he found the passage and continued his momentum until victory.
The last from Brazil
This is only the second time that the Portuguese GP has been the second event on the calendar: the last time was in 2005, when Alex Barros won with the Honda of the Pons team ahead of three Italians. Valentino Rossi was second, Max Biaggi third and Marco Melandri fourth. It was the last GP in the premier category won by a Brazilian driver. His RC211V was equipped with Brembo calipers, like all the bikes that won the 17 GPs of this championship.
Beyond the limits
The motto of the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve is: “First of all, move forward. Because the more we look ahead, the further we go. Like the runner who seeks to exceed his limits. Like all those who challenge the movement. The future of motor sports is a never-ending race: efficiency, speed, rules, safety. So many questions raised by human determination. Challenges that don’t stop us, because our minds keep spinning, always planning new goals.”
These words fit perfectly with Brembo's journey in motorsport and the philosophy that inspired it. For Brembo, motorcycle competitions are the most appropriate environment to promote the evolution of its innovations and technologies. Sometimes she even goes against orthodoxy, as when she designed and created the Radial Mount Caliper, a project so visionary and radical that it was initially met with skepticism, but which today constitutes is now the “de facto” standard for motorcycles.
