Brembo's brake supremacy continues in MotoGP during 2020

MotoGP's use of a single tyre (Michelin) and electronics (Magneti Marelli) supplier means suspension and brakes are the main areas of open competition in terms of third-party components.

The voluntary Ohlins monopoly ended when KTM made its debut on the grid at the end of 2016 using in-house WP suspension, with which it took three race wins in 2020.

But while KTM was willing to go its own way on both frame design (tubular steel rather than aluminium) and choice of suspension, it followed the pack when it came to brakes.

Indeed, for the fifth consecutive season (since Gresini switched away from Nissin), MotoGP brakes have been an unofficial single-supplier, with Brembo chosen throughout the field.

It'll be a formidable task for anyone looking to break the Italian company's stranglehold, with Brembo winning every premier-class race since 1995, including all 329 grands prix of the MotoGP era (from 2002).

That doesn't mean all went perfectly for the company in 2020, with Maverick Vinales suffering a dramatic race-stopping failure in Austria, after the team went against Brembo's advice to switch from the 2019 to 2020-spec carbon front brakes.

Vinales and Yamaha resisted the change after having no problems with temperature the previous weekend, at the same Red Bull Ring circuit, and after struggling for the right feeling on the new spec.

Until competition arrives from another supplier, the quest to improve rider feel and consistency while staying in control of rising machine performance keeps Brembo on its toes.