The Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, and its clone, the Andalusian Grand Prix, were the first events where Brembo offered MotoGP teams the normal use of its new calipers called GP4.
In fact, we had spotted this new version of the Brembo 4-piston radial calipers last year during the tests in Valencia, and reported it in our “Spy Attitude” section, but this time, no more questions of pre-season testing: we use or we don't use, depending on whether we bought or not.
These stirrups differ from those used until last season thanks to new fins on their outer part. A solution that ensures better and faster cooling of the caliper itself and, therefore, of the entire braking system.
At the same time, the amount of fluid inside the braking system has been reduced, allowing for greater consistency and a reduction in the elasticity of the lever.
Although Brembo equips 100% of MotoGP bikes, these new calipers are not obligatory, but simply offered to teams with, combined with various improvements on the other braking components (discs and master cylinders), an attractive announced increase of 10% of the braking torque…
The price ? We are here in an area that is still a little sensitive, but let's say that this no longer has anything to do with the price of stirrups made from aluminum/lithium! Today we are operating in a range between double and triple the calipers available on the market…
Who made this relatively moderate investment to replace the two types of stirrups used until now, normal or reinforced (Heavy Duty), visible below?
The always splendid photos released by Michelin allow us to see that Ducati has equipped its official GPs in this way.
Same at Pramac for Jack Miller, unlike Francesco Bagnaia who uses Heavy Duty.
At Suzuki, Álex Rins and Joan Mir both have GP4s.
At Yamaha Factory and Honda Factory, where there are large brakes, we use normal calipers, just like at Petronas and Tech3.
At KTM Factory and Aprilia, we favor Heavy Duty, just like Johann Zarco at Avintia.
But the surprise comes from the LCR satellite team, where Cal Crutchlow has GP4s, unlike Takaaki Nakagami who uses normal calipers.
The Briton is very attached to his braking, and we remember that at the Tech3 era, he declared himself ready to finance the new models of the time himself.
Did he do the same at LCR?
In any case, only Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Jack Miller, Álex Rins and Cal Crutchlow currently have the ultimate in braking. Evil tongues will say that, for the moment, this does not seem to benefit them much...
More seriously, we will see over the course of the races if the competition gets involved too.
