Misano is only rated 3 out of 5 for braking performance by Brembo, but following his spectacular crash in Austria, Maverick Vinales has confirmed that he will heed Brembo’s advice and try the 2020 front brake calipers again during this weekend’s MotoGP.
The Monster Yamaha rider chose the 2019 spec in Austria as he didn’t have any overheating issues and didn’t like the feel of the 2020 parts.
Vinales explained that the inconsistent feel with the new calipers may be due to them being paired with a used brake disc, so he’ll be trying a full set of brand new 2020 parts in Italy.
“In the last race Brembo recommended us to use the new calipers. But I had a very strange feeling with those calipers,” said Vinales. “I just tried them in FP4 and the feeling was bad.
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“So I went back to the standard races where my feeling was good. I did many laps in a row and never had a problem until the race. That was the main mistake… It’s true, Brembo always recommends the new ones.
“Anyway, I think it’s resolved. We have spoken to Brembo and we will try new discs, parts and calipers here to see if it works well. At Spielberg it was just new calipers and parts. The discs were old. Maybe that.” made the difference with consistency.
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“But that’s it. It’s in the past. We don’t want to make the same mistake, but for us it was very strange because we never had that problem.
“Now we have to give [the 2020 brakes] a chance, do more laps and see if we can gain a lot of consistency.”
The consistency issue was how much lever action was required before the calipers started to “bite”.
“My only problem is with the lever,” confirmed Vinales. “For example, in turns 1 and 3, the bike started to brake when I touched the lever. Then at Turn 4 I started to brake when (the lever) was halfway. Not just when I touched him. Somewhat later.
“Some corners were ok, but in others it (the lever) was in a different place when I started to brake. That’s why I used the old ones because the brake lever is always in the same place.
“Anyway, maybe it’s a consequence of the used brake discs. Tomorrow we’ll try it. Finally, I think it’s mandatory for all drivers. We will work closely with Brembo to solve this problem.”
While the other Yamaha riders have all switched to 2020 brakes for the second Austrian weekend, Brembo – like Vinales – said KTM, Avintia and Aprilia stayed on the 2019 spec for both Red Bull Ring events.
After being forced to jump off his bike due to brake failure, Vinales is now fifth in the World Championship and 22 points clear of Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo before heading into the two races at Misano.
“I think the bike will work really well here,” said Vinales of the newly resurfaced Italian track. “The bike also worked fantastically in Austria on the second weekend.
“My mindset is good. I know we have a lot of potential. Now we have to put it out there and do our best.”
Having already withdrawn one engine, Vinales confirmed that despite the extensive damage to his M1 in Austria, the engine was still salvageable.