One of my big goals for 2023 is to work on my brake pressure at turn-in (tying back to 100mm of suspension travel at turn-in). I was recently watching WSBK FP2 on 11/11/2022 in Indonesia. I love that the cameras spent so much time looking at the front end of the bikes in heavy braking zones. This is some serious inspiration, I’m years away from this but thinking about it over the winter break may provide me with some things to think about.
The 2 images below highlight Bautista braking and turning in on the brakes for Turn 9. Notice how much front suspension travel he uses in the speed mitigation zone and still how much suspension travel he uses after turn-in (2nd photo).
Bautista is using nearly or all of the front suspension travel as late as possible for speed mitigation and the front only extends ~10mm or so after the turn-in. It’s not just Bautista doing this, Jonathan Rea also rides this way (though it’s hard to imagine that his ramp-up to the brake pressure might have been too quick, possibly as a result of just trying to brake that little bit later) and I’m sure if I saw Razgatlıoğlu’s bike in slow motion in a heavy braking zone, it would be similar, after all, he is the one who has really redefined braking at the top level.