Every motorcyclist knows the use of the rear brake: a simple retarder in a straight line, but a serious aid to steering when tightening a trajectory in a curve, it remains quite useful for ordinary mortals.
On the other hand, with rare exceptions, it was believed to be useless in competition, the rear wheel being completely unloaded during each heavy braking, and the best drivers in the world rarely having the opportunity to miss a trajectory...
Of course, some nevertheless use it more than others, like Andrea Dovizioso who does not hesitate to place the control on the handlebars, mainly to avoid the difficulty of braking in right turns, the motorcycle then being very inclined towards the rear brake foot control.
In his time, Casey Stoner also used the rear brake a lot to tame the rebellious Italian. But this remains quite rare...
Also when, in Czech Republic Grand Prix post-qualifying press conference, a journalist asks Marc Marquez if it is correct that he uses his rear brake for 80% of a lap, compared to 11% for the Yamahas, he nods his head in the affirmative with a serious air and replies: “Cela dépend bien sûr du circuit et du problème que vous avez. Mais je pense que nous l’utilisons à peu près pareil en entrée de virage. La différence principale est que j’utilise le frein arrière dans les lignes droites pour éviter le wheelie. Les Yamaha et les Ducati l’utilisent moins car elles sont plus capables de garder la roue avant (au sol), avec l’électronique ou le moteur, nous ne savons pas. Globalement, je l’utilise plus car je m’en sers en ligne droite. C’est comme ça. En entrée de virage, parfois dans quelques virages, cela dépend de la situation, mais bien sûr, vous pouvez aussi piloter sans frein arrière.”
Confirmation from the Honda driver, therefore, who throws certain preconceived ideas into oblivion: Marc Marquez therefore uses his rear brake to counter the tendency to wheelie during each acceleration, which, in conjunction with the electronic assistance, must require quite a bit of “dexterity”. foot"…
As our photo shows, it uses a ventilated rear disc for this, unlike other Honda drivers.
As a reminder, in Brno, drivers use their front brake 30% of the time (Brembo data).
