The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returns to Portugal for the penultimate round of its 2026 season, and to get them back up to speed, Brembo is on the case, breaking down the 4.182 km-long Circuito Estoril. The Italian brand works with 13 of the grid’s 14 teams, and with plenty of hairpins and heavy braking zones, riders will rely heavily on their braking systems at the Tissot Estoril Round.
RATED ‘HIGHLY DEMANDING’ ON THE BRAKES
The Portuguese circuit is categorised by Brembo engineers as ‘highly demanding’, or four out of five on their braking difficulty index. This rating reflects that riders must brake in nine corners for a total of 26 seconds. Four braking sections are in the High category, including two consecutive ones (Turns 6 and 7), as well as a pair of Medium braking zones and three classified as Low stress braking areas.
FLYING DOWN THE STRAIGHT INTO TURN 1
The toughest corner on the brakes at the Estoril Circuit for the braking system is the opening Turn 1, as riders clamp down after flying full gas down the 985-metre start/finish straight. Bikes go from 310 km/h down to 84 km/h in just 4.9 seconds. In that time, they cover 249 metres, while the riders apply a load of 5.6 kg to the brake lever. At that point, they are subjected to 1.5 g of deceleration, and the pressure of the Brembo brake fluid reaches 12 bar.
THE DECISIVE ‘AYRTON SENNA’ TURN 13
After doubling back across the parabolic pair of Turns 3 and 4, riders can open the gas down the kinked back straight, putting a knee down to the right at high speed through Turn 5 as they finish the second sector on the run into the ‘Parabolica Interior’ Turn 6. Looping to the left, it’s back down onto the right knee sliders for ‘Orelha’ Turn 7 and again on Turn 8. Clamping down on the brakes for a tight sequence, it’s slow into a Turn 9-10 left-to-right chicane before a gradual righthanded Turn 11. Turn 12 can prove tricky, as the lefthanded 90º turn spits riders out onto the long, high-speed ‘Parabolica Ayrton Senna’ Turn 13, a wide, righthanded half-moon which requires precision to get the line right and get a good exit back onto the start-finish straight.
This final section of track is the favourite of 2026 WorldSBK Champion Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and WorldSSP breakout star Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing), who has climbed to new heights atop his ZXMOTO 820 RR in the manufacturer’s first season in the class.
Bulega earned one of his WorldSBK career highlights here as a strong final sector through Turn 13 saw him pip Toprak Razgatlioglu for the closest-ever finish in WorldSBK history back in 2024. On this run of track, Bulega said: “It’s no secret that my riding style favours high-speed corners, which is why Turn 13 at the Estoril Circuit is one of my favourites.”
Debise enjoyed success of his own here last season, as a round after taking his first WorldSSP win in his third season, he took his second victory here at Estoril. He said: “The last corner is my favourite. Last year when I won a race, I remember going out of that Turn like crazy, burning the rear tyre. You could see on TV that my rear tyre was smoking. Even now, people speak to me about it!”
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