Brembo have been gearing up for a challenging 2020 Marrakesh ePrix as one of the most extreme circuits for braking performance.
Circuit International Automobile Moulay El Hassan contains a combination of short bursts, long straights and tight corners and the high air temperatures in Marrakesh have made this track particularly aggressive on brakes.
The circuit is one of the longest of the season, just under three kilometres in length and contains a total of fifteen corners with around 27 percent of the lap is spent braking.
Giovanni Clemente, Brembo Formula E and Formula 1 Race Engineer said: “It is in one of the top three for braking effort along with New York and Sanya. In Marrakesh we have a track that has plenty of medium and high effort brake.
“At the end, the system for braking is almost the same all along the track and you do not release the brake enough time to properly cool down, that is the main issue on this track. And normally it is good that you have the space in which to manage the temperature.”
Discs need to remain within the 400-800 degrees celcius range to perform to their best. This means that the best use of the brakes will be key in order to optimize race performance at Marrakesh.
Also, the ability to recoup energy under braking is fundamental in a Formula E race which will once again play a vital role this weekend. As by the end of the lap, the amount of energy required in braking is more than two and a half percent of the battery’s overall capacity. But the majority of that energy is simply dissipated through heat.
Thus, Mr Clemente suggested that if you are able to recover just a small amount of energy you will be able to increase the battery length which could make a crucial difference come the end of the race.
He added: “At the end it is something which is down to a team style or driving style as to how they perform to set up their car to optimize their braking performance. There is not a single way to interpret any single corner or any track.”
But every team’s ability to optimize their braking performance is set to be one of the crucial aspects in order to have a good result this weekend and it is down to the teams to set up their car in order to maxmiize braking efficiency.
The 2020 Marrakesh ePrix will get underway on Saturday February 29 at 1330 GMT. Panasonic Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans heads into this weekend’s race top of the Formula E standings by a single point over BMW i-Andretti Motorsport racer Alexander Sims. Who will tame the streets of Marrakesh?
