LATEST FROM BREMBO
INTERVIEW
Andrea Bergami , MotoGP Race Engineer for Brembo Racing
1 What is the life span of carbon discs and pads in MotoGP ? The life of a carbon pad set is more or less 700-800 Km and the disc can last for two different sets of pads ( 1500-1600 Km ) considering that the wear of the disc is ten times lower compared to the wear of the pad .
2 What parts in the braking system are serviced that are not changed completely ? What is done during servicing ? Usually the caliper and master cylinder are serviced and not completely changed . During the service we usually change the internal seal , we overhaul all the valve assembled , we substitute some parts if needed and we complete the procedure with a series of tests in order to check the functionality of the component and its working parameter . Obviously after an important crash in many case is not possible to overhaul the components and in this case they are completely changed .
3 How long does it need to produce a brake caliper , what material is it made of ? The machining of the caliper requires many hours divided in different steps considering we us use different machines for the production of the caliper . The material used is an aeronautic aluminum .
4 What parts are responsible for the brake feel ? All the parts of the braking system are responsible for the brake feeling . For sure the master cylinder is the most important part for the feeling considering that it ’ s the tool that the rider uses to control all the system .
5 What is the pressure on the lever , what at the pistons of the caliper and how much pressure do the pads give to the disc ? If we consider for example a braking pressure of 11 bar , the force to apply to the lever is more or less 6 Kg and the pushing force applied by the pistons of the caliper is approximately 4600N ( 470 Kg ).
6 What circuit is the most demanding , what circuit the easiest for the brakes ? The most demanding circuit for the brakes is for sure Spielberg ( three consecutive high energy brakings ), the least demanding is Phillip Island ( no important brakings , high avg speed on the lap ).
7 Which rider uses the rear brake most for traction control during acceleration ? All the riders use the rear brake most for traction control and to adjust the trajectory during turn .
8 Why do they do it in spite of electronic traction control ? In order to use less the traction control that also has its own disadvantages and to have an instrument that is directly controlled by the rider . So it is more adjustable in different situations .
9 What percentage of riders use thumb brakes , and who are the most prominent ? More or less 50 % of the riders . Also in this case to say who is more prominent is not possible as that depends on the motorbike and we can ’ t go too deeply in our customers ’ specifications .