Cannibals, very young talent, women who beat men and seasoned champions: in 2018, the Motorsports world brought us many stories. We collected 10 incredible ones, all different, but all the same in the use of Brembo brakes, and we have placed them here for you.
2018 was the year of Lewis Hamilton’s 5th Formula 1 World Title and Valentino Rossi’s first winless season with Yamaha. Toyota finally managed to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, while Ducati retired the Panigale R twin-cylinder.
Some championships were fought down to the last race (like WRC and Moto3), whereas others were decided early (Formula 1 and MotoGP, to name a couple). However, there were many incredible performances that were unprecedented in the history of their respective specialties. This is why we have chosen to tell you about the 10 undertakings achieved during the recently concluded year in Motorsports. The stories, perhaps not very well known, of 10 racers who set new records this year which are bound to last for a long time.
As is clear, in all the cases reported, brakes played an important role: in order to go fast, you also have to know how to brake hard. Furthermore, to win a race or a championship, you need to have a braking system that is also resistant. And when it comes to performance and reliability, Brembo comes into play.
WOMEN WHO BEAT MEN
Thanks to the 3 points earned in the final race at Magny-Cours (France), 21-year-old Spaniard Ana Carrasco won the Supersport 300 World Championship. This is the first time in motorcycle racing history that a woman has won a world title in a competition open to both genders.
The steel brake discs and sintered pads on her Kawasaki Ninja 400 managed by DS Junior Team also performed impeccably. In fact, the rules seek to lower costs, prohibiting parts that are too expensive. Carrasco used aftermarket braking components designed to provide the best on a 330 lb bike.
THE RETURN OF A HISTORICAL LAST NAME
With his 2nd-place finish at Hockenheim (Germany) in the next to last race, Mick Schumacher won the European Formula 3 Championship. Not since 2004 had a Schumacher been at the top of the list at the end of a championship season: that year, his father Michael won his 7th Formula 1 World Championship, the 5th in a row with Ferrari.
Just as Michael took every win of his career always using Brembo brakes, his 19 year old son also won in 2018 using Brembo. His Prema Theodore Racing managed Dallara, however, used 18 mm thick cast iron discs with the traditional fins, 24 or 48, depending on what was needed.
THE YOUNGEST SEVEN-TIME CHAMP
With his victory in the GP of Japan at Motegi
The common denominator of all Márquez’s wins is the Brembo braking system, although the characteristics have changed: in 2010, when he won the 125 class, he used 2-piston calipers and bushing-mounted steel brakes. In MotoGP, on the other hand, he always uses carbon discs, even in the rain, and 4-piston calipers.
17 TIMES FIRST
Despite breaking his collar bone in mid-June, Dutchman Jeffrey Herlings dominated in the Mx1 World Championship, racking up no less than 933 points to create a gap of 151 points ahead of his nearest rival. He collected similar bounty by winning 17 GP races in a single year, an unprecedented record in Motocross.
The Red Bull Factory Racing KTM 450 SX-F 2018 Herlings rode in 2018 has a Brembo single front caliper in billet aluminum: it is a floating caliper with 2 pistons, 24 mm each. Herlings also used a brake master cylinder with built in reservoir.
FOUR OF A KIND FOR REA
Since Jonathan Rea joined team Kawasaki in 2015, his rivals have had to settle for crumbs: in the last 4 seasons, the Northern Irishman has won the World Superbike Championship 4 times. No other rider, not even Carl Fogarty, had ever won 4 World Championships in a row until now.
The collaboration between Kawasaki and Brembo does not stop with factory production: Rea’s ZX-10R uses EVO 4-piston aluminum calipers, in other words, with pad diameters larger than normal. The Northern Irish rider uses 336 mm diameter steel discs (carbon discs have been banned by the rules since 1994).
15 YEARS THAT DON’T FEEL LIKE IT
Less than two months after winning the Red Bull Rookies Cup, Turkish rider Can Oncu made his debut in the Moto3 World Championship in Valencia (Spain) thanks to a wild card spot. And he did very well immediately, qualifying 4th and then winning the wet race, becoming the youngest GP winner ever at 15 years and 115 days old.
The KTM RC 250R Rookies that he rode for the entire year and the team Red Bull Ktm Ajo operated KTM RC 250GP have the same braking components in common: Brembo caliper and master cylinder. The Rookies team bike has a 4-piston single caliper, whereas the team Ajo bike as a 2-piston double caliper.
THE SECOND GENERATION’S TIME HAS COME
The greater weight of the new single-seaters and the use of brakes for the entire race distance led Brembo to make a decision as sole braking system supplier for the entire championship: to use carbon discs and pads, aluminum 4-piston single calipers and single-stage tandem master cylinder, identical for all the teams.
THE LONG DRY SPELL IS OVER
When Kimi Raikkonen returned to team Ferrari in 2014, he never imagined he would have to wait so long to be back on the top step of the podium. He waited a long time and his class was finally rewarded at the GP of Austin, dominating the race. So, the Finn broke a dry spell of 112 winless races.
Brembo made its debut in Formula 1 in 1975 with a small supply of cast iron discs for Ferrari. Since then, all of the single-seaters made in Maranello have always used Brembo braking components: beginning in 1982, the collaboration expanded to calipers as well, first with half calipers and then with the single caliper.
RALLY RACES STILL SPEAK FRENCH
On the eve of the final race, held in Australia, there were 3 drivers contending for the World Rally Championship title. The most cool-headed of the trio won – Sébastien Ogier. This gives the Frenchman 6 world titles in a row, each with more than 200 points, the barrier that separates the good from the great.
In 2018, the team M-Sport Ford Fiesta used an entire Brembo braking system: for the races on asphalt, it mounted 370 mm diameter discs and 300 mm for dirt, always with “spline” drag between housing and hub. The calipers are in aluminum and special alloys, in addition to super lightweight pedals.
HE BEAT FANGIO AND HIMSELF
Nine years ago, winning the WTCC World Championship, Gabriele Tarquini had broken the seniority record held by Juan Manuel Fangio: the Italian had become world champion at 47 years of age, whereas the Argentinian had succeeded in the same feat (in F.1) at 46 years of age. In 2018, at 56 years old, Tarquini broke his own record, winning the WTCR championship.
To beat the rest after 30 races in the fledgling championship, Tarquini used a Hyundai i30 N TCR managed by BRC Racing Team. This car, as well as its twin, driven by Yvan Muller (2nd in the World Championship) used cast iron discs, aluminum calipers and brake master cylinders, all made by Brembo.
Source: Brembo
