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Today’s videogames have superior realism that they can even be used for global racing championships which thousands participate in. Even the FIA, the world motorsport governing body, has recognised simulation videogames, terming them as ‘digital motorsports’.

One of the companies that has been constantly pushing the edge of the simulation envelope further has been Polyphony Digital Inc., developer of the Gran Turismo series for Playstation (PS) consoles since 1997. The series has been constantly improved in all respects, especially realism, and will start its seventh version in March 2022 for PS4 and PS5 consoles.

Official technical partner
For Gran Turismo 7 (GT7), Polyphony Digital has chosen Brembo, a well known and leading designer and manufacturer of performance brake systems as an official technical partner. Brembo supplies brake systems to competition cars (including Formula 1) and motorcycles, as well as roadgoing cars.

In GT7, Brembo will appear in the Tuning Shop of the videogame where its UPGRADE products will be available to players. Like a real-world workshop, this virtual shop is where they can upgrade the performance of their cars.

Upgrading with different brake systems
In this environment, gamers will be able to replace their original brake discs with those from the Sport range and, as they progress through the game, to upgrade their car with different Brembo brake systems. The choice will range up to the highest performing and most distinctive products for road cars, including Carbon Ceramic brake discs and GT|BM calipers, available in 8 different colours.

Now part of Gran Turismo
“We are particularly proud to deliver the uniqueness of Brembo brake systems to the Gran Turismo series. This iconic driving simulation video game franchise has built a strong community of millions of gamers around the world since its creation almost 25 years ago,” said Daniele Schillaci, Brembo’s Chief Executive Officer. “For Brembo, this partnership represents an extraordinary opportunity to reach out to the younger generations, which is in line with our vision, ‘Turning Energy into Inspiration’. From the asphalt of the track, the performance and design of our systems have now become part of the virtual world of Gran Turismo 7. Our ambition is to further enhance the gaming experience, just as the driving experience does in reality.”

Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital Inc. and Producer of the Gran Turismo series, has personal admiration for the brand. “Even before we released our first Gran Turismo, Brembo was a hero brand to me,“ he said. “As a street racer back then, I had often struggled with the brakes fading. This was because most production cars at the time, excluding a very select few, were not equipped with brakes that matched the power and weight of the car. I always found Brembo to be reliable on the circuit and, as a result, always had a connection with the brand. So it’s a pleasure to announce this partnership between Gran Turismo and Brembo, a true high performance brand.”

Brembo’s profile and values will be visible in the Gran Turismo 7 game’s Brand Central. The 60 years of the company’s history will be presented in the Brand Central Museum. In addition, Brembo will be visible with its branding on the tracks featured in the game as banners or billboards in the background.

At the 2021 Russian F1 Grand Prix over the weekend, brake manufacturer Brembo celebrated a historic milestone of its vital components having a presence for the 800th Formula 1 race. This milestone comes after 46 years when the company supplied a small number of cast iron discs to Scuderia Ferrari in 1975. At that time, Brembo, which had been founded in 1961, was still a small machine shop but it would grow and remain a supplier to the sportscar maker till today.

Brake supplier for almost all F1 teams
Over the decades, Brembo has supplied brake systems to almost every F1 team, from the most prestigious to the smallest. Initially, these were standardized parts but over time, the solutions have become increasingly customized to suit the design characteristics of the different single-seaters as they evolved (especially with regulation changes). Indeed, co-design activity today involves practically all components destined for the F1 customers, from the brake calipers to the Brake-by Wire (BBW) systems, resulting in very geometrically diverse products.

Brembo has long been well known for innovations in its field. For example, in 1982, it created the first radial mount brake caliper. In 1988, when it introduced the first monobloc caliper to racing, making a caliper from a single block of aluminium seemed like a feat verging on science fiction.

However, Brembo’s engineers managed to create the program and the tooling for the internal machining operations. The result helped write the history of motoring, initially only for competition cars, but later also transferred to road cars.

The wire technology for brake systems – referred to as ‘brake-by-wire – was first used in Formula 1 cars (above) and then appeared in production cars. The Toyota Estima Hybrid (below) launched in 2001 had an Electronically Controlled Brake (ECB) system which is believed to be the first brake-by-wire system installed in a production model.

 

From discs to whole systems
After starting with brake discs (first cast iron and then carbonfibre), Brembo began to supply other related components – calipers, pads, disc housings, brake master cylinders and the development of complex braking systems. These include by wire technology, the electronically-controlled braking system that has been used for rear braking systems of F1 cars since 2014. Like many other technologies which originated in racing cars, wire technology is today available in many cars sold to the public.

During the 800 Grands Prix, cars equipped with Brembo brakes have driven on 56 tracks worldwide, most of them in Europe. However, the number of Asian events has increased since the 1990s, having first appeared on the calendar in 1976.

Whether a race was long or short (as in the 3-lap ‘race’ of the 2021 Belgian GP recently), the brakes supplied by Brembo have still had an important role.

Stopping power needed, whatever the race
No two races are ever identical in course, weather conditions and competitors (constructors and drivers). The longest was the 1975 Swedish GP, a 321.44-km race won by Niki Lauda won with the Ferrari 312T. Last month’s Belgian GP was the shortest – just 3 official laps that were run behind the Safety Car due to the heavy rain. However, the next shortest was the 1991 Australian Grand Prix and there was actually some racing over the 52.92 kms.

Not every car used Brembo’s brakes but of the 800 races, 455 of them were won by cars with their brakes. The driver who won the most number of times in cars with Brembo brakes is Michael Schumacher – 91 times out of the 307 races he entered. All 7 of his world titles were won in cars that had Brembo brakes.

After a year’s absence, Formula One cars will once again speed around the Baku  City Circuit for the 2021 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This will be the fifth time in 6 years that the event has been run at the same venue along the coast of the Caspian Sea.

Demanding on brakes
It is the second street circuit to be used so far, after Monaco two weeks ago. Being a street circuit with narrow roads and tight turns, the track is classified as one of the most demanding tracks for brakes. On a scale of 1 to 5, Brembo engineers give it a 4 on the difficulty index, the same as the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain.

The layout includes four 90° corners at the start which are highly demanding on the brakes, followed by other turns where the angle changes continuously and, consequently, so does the use of the brakes. The track has several technical corners like Turn 8 near the old town fortifications where there is no room for error.

Carbonfibre + aluminium
In addition to aluminium-lithium calipers and carbonfibre discs, Brembo also supplies F1 teams with brake pads, also made from carbonfibre. There are 5 different types for the front and 2 variations for the rear. They vary according to the specifications of the material used, the internal ventilation and the geometry.

The length of each pad ranges from 160 to 190 mm and the surface area from 50 to 90 sq. cm. while the weight varies from 150 to 300 grams. The pads have a friction coefficient of 0.5 and the operating temperature is the same as the discs. Both have very high thermal conductivity since they are in direct contact and made from similar materials.

20 seconds of braking per lap​
Over the 6 kms of circuit with 11 braking zones, the brakes are used for just under 20 seconds per lap. This is twice as much as on the Imola track and 1.2 seconds more than Monaco. Despite this, at Baku, the load on the brake pedal from start to finish is lower, 53.5 metric tons.

In ​5 of the 11 braking sections, the load does not even reach 90 kgs; deceleration is just 3.8g and braking lasts for 1.86 seconds. In 4 braking sections, on the other hand, the brake system is in use for over 2.13 seconds even if the load on the brake pedal reaches a peak of 166 kgs and does not exceed 140 kgs in the other cases.

5.5g right after the starting line​​​
Of the 11 braking sections of the Baku City Circuit, 4 are classified as very demanding on the brakes, another 4 are of medium difficulty, and the remaining 3 are light. The most challenging one for the brake system is the first corner where the cars arrive at 334 km/h and then have to slow down to 125 km/h within just 1.85 seconds. To do this, drivers apply a load of 131 kgs on the brake pedal and as the car decelerates, there will be a force of 5.5g as they cover a distance of 107 metres.

 

With all its twists and turns as well as tight corners, you would think that the street circuit for the 67th Monaco Grand Prix would be the toughest on brakes among all the circuits of the 2021 Formula 1 World Championship. However, it’s not and according to Brembo technicians, the Monaco Circuit falls into the category of tracks that present an average challenge for the brakes. On a difficulty index scale of 1 to 5, it is classified as a three, exactly the same as the tracks of the last three races.

The circuit stands out for its high aerodynamic load and the considerable percentage of braking time. The calipers and brake fluid reach high temperatures and vapour lock was a common phenomenon in the past, causing the lengthening of the brake pedal action. ​

F1

​Brembo carbon doesn’t melt at 3,000°C
Carbon discs began to be used in Formula 1 in the 1980s, and then spread into other motorsport competitions. Indeed, no other element offers that special combination of light weight, high thermal conductivity and absence of dilation, even at 1,000°C, a distinguishing feature of Brembo’s F1 discs.

The density of carbon is 1.7 grams per cubic centimetre, compared with 7.8 grams for steel and 7.3 grams for gray cast iron. Its thermal expansion coefficient is 1/15th that of steel and 1/11th that of cast iron. The melting point of carbon is higher than 3,000°C, compared with the 1,200°C of cast iron and 1,800°C of steel. ​

3 metres make all the difference​
Carbon discs aren’t suitable for road use, mainly because the braking system doesn’t reach the minimum operating temperatures needed, but also due to their high consumption. Some of their benefits, however, can be found in the carbon ceramic discs of which Brembo is the main worldwide manufacturer.

Carbon ceramic discs allow a saving of 5 to 6 kgs in weight compared with traditional cast iron discs. What’s more, their lifespan may even equal that of the vehicle they’re mounted on, depending on how it’s driven. But, above all, carbon ceramic guarantees a reduction of about 3 metres in the braking distance from 100 km/h to 0 km/h compared with a traditional disc. ​

4.6g deceleration after the tunnel
Of the 11 braking sections of the Monaco Circuit, two are classified as very demanding on the brakes, another two are of medium difficulty, and the remaining 7 are light. The hardest for the braking system is the one that comes after the tunnel (Turn 10): the cars arrive at 307 km/h and have to get down to 90 km/h within just 121 metres. To do this, the drivers brake for 2.47 seconds, applying a load of 146 kgs on the pedal and experience a deceleration force of 4.6g.

870 braking points
Despite being the shortest World Championship track at just 3.337 kms, the Monaco Circuit has 11 braking points per lap (although only one of them is particularly intense). On 4 turns, the brakes need to be used for no more than 1.1 second. The drivers use their brakes for 18.7 seconds, corresponding to 27% of the total race time.

Notwithstanding the 7 braking points per lap where the load on the pedal is less than 90 kgs), the overall load exerted by each driver from the starting line to the checkered flag is more than 62 metric tons. Only in Singapore – also a street circuit – is the figure higher than this. It also has to be said that the braking system is used about 870 times on the Monaco track, from start to finish.​ ​

The 2021 Monaco Grand Prix will start at 3 pm in Monaco/9 pm in Malaysia tonight.

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