An in-depth look at the premium class' use of braking systems on the Red Bull Ring
Six weeks after having hosted Formula 1, the Red
Bull Ring in Spielberg (Austria) will be home to the 11th appointment
of the #motogp season.
The bikes will enter the track
from 9 to 11 August, just 7 days after the Czech Republic GP.
Located near the Zeltweg military airport, the racetrack
was recently renovated thanks to a push by Dietrich Mateschitz.
The #motogp bikes were first introduced to the new circuit
in 2016, and they immediately picked up speed, #racing around the
track at 186 km/h (116 mph) on average for the qualifying session.
The track has few curves, only 10, with the many
straightaways concentrated near the finish line. Brakes are not
needed for every bend.
Curiously, however, there is
not a single bend where #motogp bikes brake that Formula 1 single
seaters don't brake as well: the intensity is different of course;
there's no comparing the speed with which the cars and the bikes face
the curves.
The many undulations of the track
complicate the drivers' choice of timing braking: there's a 65 meters
(213 feet) difference between the highest and the lowest point, and
the steepest slope has a 9.3 percent incline.
According to #brembo technicians, who assist 100% of the 2019 #motogp pilots, the Red Bull Ring is very demanding on the brakes.
On a scale of 1 to 5, it earned a 5 on the difficulty index, the same score given to the tracks in Barcelona, Motegi and Sepang.
The
demand on the brakes during the GP
On
one full lap, the #motogp riders use their brakes 7 times for a total
of 28 seconds.
As we noted before, Formula 1 cars also brake 7
times in each lap but for a total of just 9.8 seconds.
Over
the 28 race laps at Spielberg each #motogp bike uses its brakes for
some 800 seconds, that's just over 13 minutes.
Last month, on
the other hand, the winner of the Formula 1 GP completed the 71 laps
of the Austria GP using #brembo calipers for just 10 minutes and a
half.
Average deceleration per lap for the #motogp is 1.23 g,
which is second highest value of the championship: an incredibly high
value when we notice that the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio brakes
from 200 km/h to 0 km/h with a 1.15 g deceleration.
Summing
up all of the forces applied by a rider on the #brembo brake lever
from the starting line to the checkered flag, the result is about 0.9
tonnes.
The
most demanding braking sections
Of
the 7 braking sessions at the Red Bull Ring, the first 3 are very
hard on the brakes, as well the penultimate, while the remaining 3
are of low difficulty.
The most challenging session
is Castrol Edge (curve 1) since it is located at the fastest point on
the track, despite being slightly uphill: the #motogp bikes reach the
bend at 312 km/h (193.9 mph) and then brake for 4.4 seconds to slow
to 99 km/h (61.5 mph).
Riders put 5.9 kg (13 lbs) pressure
on the brake lever and are subjected to a 1.5 g deceleration. Formula
1 single-seaters reach this same section at a slightly higher speed
(331 km/h, 205.7 mph), but are able to enter the curve at 158 km/h
(98.2 mph) and, most importantly, can slam on the brakes without fear
of flipping over: braking only lasts 1.57 seconds and 99 meters (325
feet), less than half the distance (229 meters, 751 feet) required by
the #motogp bikes.
The braking time and distance are
even greater for Rauch (curve 4), partly due to the downhill slope:
274 meters (899 feet) and 5.7 seconds to come down from 292 km/h (181
mph) to 85 km/h (53 mph).
Here deceleration is 1.4 g, while for Formula 1 drivers it gets up to 5.2 g.
The
pressure of the #brembo HTC 64T brake fluid in the #motogp bikes climbs
to 11.9 bar, while it peaks at 12.6 bar for Castrol Edge.
Remus
(curve 3) is the slowest on the track with a speed of 64 km/h (40
mph) on entry. Riders clamp on their brakes for 5.5 seconds putting a
5.1 kg (11.2 lbs) load on the lever. The comparison with the four
wheelers is less stark since the F1 brakes are used for 2.59 seconds
to drop to 84 km/h (52 mph) after braking.
Brembo
performance
Bikes with
Brembo brakes have won 11 editions of the Austrian GP: the first 4
victories went to Yamaha (3 with Eddie Lawson), followed by Honda
with an equal number of wins (3 by Michael Doohan).
In
last 3 years the only winner was Ducati with Andrea Iannone, Andrea
Dovizioso and Jorge Lorenzo. Meanwhile, Valentino Rossi and Marc
Marquez have never won in Austria.
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