The bikes’ 1000cc engines produce 270hp however their tiny contact patches and lack of downforce relative to automobiles prices them dearly in lap time when in comparison with a Method 1 machine.
For instance, Valtteri Bottas lapped his 2019 F1 Mercedes in 1m32.029s in qualifying for the US Grand Prix at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas, in contrast with Maverick Vinales’ 2m00.864s in MotoGP qualifying there in 2024.
Nonetheless, just a few years in the past Purple Bull pitted Dani Pedrosa’s KTM RC16 towards Liam Lawson in an RB8 over 1 / 4 of a mile from a standing begin, and the bike received hands-down – primarily because of its superior power-to-weight ratio (the RB8 weighing in at 640kg in comparison with the KTM’s 157kg).
Their slim nature additionally means little or no drag, permitting MotoGP bikes to max out at round that 220mph mark. Which is all properly and good in a straight line, however how do you get them slowed down for the twisty bits?
MotoGP disc brake element
Photograph by: Brembo
What’s the know-how behind MotoGP brakes & who makes them?
For the ninth season operating, Italian-based Brembo provides all 22 MotoGP riders with a fully-customised braking system and repair. The parts of the system are brake calipers, carbon and metal discs, grasp cylinders, clutch pumps and pads.
Its monobloc caliper, referred to as the GP4, is machined from a stable piece of aluminium. It options an amplification system that enables the braking torque to be elevated, which implies that the rider will get higher profit from making use of the identical stress to the brake lever.
In the meantime, a spring gadget on the anti-drag system reduces the residual torque and stops the pads and discs coming into contact with one another.
Immense stopping energy is generated by way of carbon entrance discs: Brembo affords completely different diameter sizes and every is offered in three materials specs – finned, excessive mass and customary. A smaller diameter metal disc is used on the rear, as engine braking assists with the method on that finish.
MotoGP disc brake choices
Photograph by: Brembo
Throughout the season, most riders use 340mm diameter carbon discs, splitting between excessive mass (for higher-end necessities) and customary mass (low finish) – with 320mm additionally accessible. Ventilated disc options, one possibility with a diameter of 355mm, can be found for extra demanding circuits equivalent to Spielberg, Buddh, Motegi, Buriram and Sepang.
The thickness of the discs, no matter diameter, is 8mm, whereas their weight varies between 1kg and 1.4kg relying on the diameter and specification used.
So which means MotoGP brakes are literally bigger, by way of diameter, than an F1 automotive’s however far thinner (F1 brakes are 32mm huge). General, between entrance and rear wheels, the MotoGP braking system weighs about 5.5kg in complete.
The working temperature of a MotoGP carbon disc should be between 250°C and 850°C. As compared, the metal discs that Brembo makes for Moto2 and Moto3 function between 100°C and 650°C.
Jorge Martin, Pramac Racing
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
How shortly can a MotoGP bike decelerate?
MotoGP bikes weigh 157kg and, together with their jockey-sized riders, they’ll decelerate at simply over 1.5g. Let’s have a look at a real-world situation, ultimately weekend’s Grand Prix of the Americas at COTA.
The largest cease at that circuit – which is classed as ‘medium’ by way of braking effort, at 26% of the entire lap spent slowing down – is on the finish of the again straight. The strategy pace on the again straight to Flip 12 is 338km/h – near their most velocity of 220mph in imperial measures – and the minimal nook pace is 65km/h.
It requires a 293-metre stopping distance, which takes 5.8s. The brake stress required is 12.5 bar (One bar is roughly the atmospheric stress on Earth at an altitude of 111 metres at 15°C), and the utmost braking energy is 120kW doubled.
MotoGP carbon disc brake element
Photograph by: Brembo
“The half the place the carbon disc is only is when the warmth dissipation takes place,” says Brembo’s MotoGP race engineer Mattia Tombolan. “As a result of properties of the carbon materials itself, it might probably take in much more warmth than a metal disc, however it might probably additionally dissipate it in a short time.
“To have that very same degree of dissipation with metal, you’d want a really large disc which might be loads heavier. And the burden has a big impact on the manoeuvrability of the bike.”
The dimensions of a carbon disc additionally has a knock-on impact via the remainder of the system.
“Trying on the dimension of the disc, this has a direct influence on the braking torque utilized by the rider,” he provides. “A bigger disc additionally generates a higher gyroscopic impact that hampers a motorcycle and rider’s skill to alter course.
“If I’m placing the identical stress on the grasp cylinder, if I’ve a much bigger disc, with the next radius with increased momentum, I’ll put increased braking torque. So, the rider will really feel he has to place much less stress to succeed in the braking drive he needs.
“However, a smaller disc means a rider has to place rather more stress – so it is determined by the rider desire.”
MotoGP disc brake element
Photograph by: Brembo
Though the science is identical because the braking programs in F1, the best way the rider initiates the interface – in F1’s case, stamping on the left pedal with large drive – is completely completely different.
“If you put over 100 bar together with your foot, you’re additionally utilizing the deceleration of the machine that will help you,” says Tombolan. “In MotoGP, you’re speaking between 10 and 15 bar, making use of that together with your fingers.
“I might say the sensation of a MotoGP rider is extra essential, and don’t neglect the rider can also be shifting round on the bike, they aren’t strapped in. So, I’d say the rider suggestions is much more essential on the subject of the engineering half, to translate the sensation of the rider and never simply the numbers.
“It’s fairly difficult, in MotoGP you actually need to construct a relationship with the rider and crew chief to tune the bike from the braking aspect.”
Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Crew
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
The MotoGP rider’s information to braking
Trackhouse Racing’s Miguel Oliveira has been racing in MotoGP since 2019 and has 5 wins to his title within the premier class.
The 29-year-old Portuguese rider, who has received races with each the manufacturing unit and Tech3 KTM groups, now rides an Aprilia for the American-owned squad.
He explains what it’s prefer to trip one in all these 220mph machines, and to find the place the restrict is to sluggish them down from their high pace right into a 35mph hairpin bend.
“The primary query by way of the braking is: What’s 100%?” he asks rhetorically. “You need to discover the restrict. And often our restrict on the braking strategy is when the rear lifts off the bottom.
“At any time when the rear tyre lifts, or the entrance is locking, that’s the place I really feel the restrict and alter the brake stress, to maintain as a lot stress as doable however with out going over that restrict all through the entire braking part.
“As you see these days, there’s not that a lot benefit to maintain the bike straight for braking. We try to make use of all of the aero, all the rear tyre, to cease.
“When it comes to the rear brake utilization, we attempt to preserve it to a minimal, to let the engine braking work extra successfully – but it surely is determined by the bike, and the electronics. We do alter it loads.
Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Crew
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“We work onerous on the nook entry, so we use that to maintain decreasing the pace when we have to. In fact, you can not preserve a lot stress if you’re in that [entry] part of braking into the nook, in order that’s the place we particularly use the rear brake.
“Along with the engine braking, and the rear brake, you try to work the stability to not be too sharp or aggressive as you rotate the bike into the nook, in any other case you overload the entrance finish and that’s when you’ll be able to lose the entrance.”
In contrast to others, Olivieira doesn’t use a thumb-controlled rear brake: “I choose to make use of the foot, as a result of I can use extra stress utilizing my foot,” he explains.
If you watch F1 you’ll typically see drivers locking up their entrance wheels on the strategy to a nook. In MotoGP, this additionally occurs, however it’s a lot much less apparent to the watching eye…
“You’re feeling it fairly simply,” he says. “When it occurs, you let it slide just a little bit, you don’t launch the brake instantly, you’ll be able to let the bike slide just a little on a locked entrance – but it surely’s actually a sense that you simply get used to, and also you react to it fairly naturally.”
Miguel Oliveira, Trackhouse Racing Crew
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
And what of the drive required on the lever, when you want to make a giant cease? As we talked about, F1 drivers generate large stress on the brake pedal within the cockpit through their foot – how concerning the levers in MotoGP?
“It’s not that onerous,” he replies. “I feel it might be 11 to 12 kilos on the brake lever, to generate the robust braking energy you require.
“However the primary factor we have to focus on is how a lot to make use of it within the race, how exact you want to be at over 300km/h, the braking marks are what’s super-important, and probably the most tough factor is to maintain hitting them commonly in a race, when you could have tyre degradation and decreasing gas load. It’s not simple!”
Oliveira can also be a seven-time winner in Moto2 and six-time Moto3 race victor, so properly positioned to match carbon versus metal entrance discs.
“It’s been a very long time since I rode with out these brakes!” he quips. “However as I bear in mind, it’s actually that first chunk that you simply discover the large distinction. With carbon brakes – bwoah! – you actually cease onerous if you first hit them.”
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Manufacturing unit Racing
Photograph by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Why do MotoGP riders dangle their legs underneath braking?
And, lastly, how concerning the pattern of riders dangling their legs out into the airstream throughout the braking part? What does that obtain?
“We primarily use it as drag for air resistance,” Oliveira explains. “We additionally use it as a strategy to stability, to load the rear as a result of when you slide sideways, you kick your leg out and that creates an inwards and downwards centre of gravity, in order that lets you decelerate a bit too.”