Vettel visits Brembo factory in Italy (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

Sebastian Vettel experienced his first Italian Grand Prix as a member of Scuderia Ferrari this past weekend – he ultimately finished second to Lewis Hamilton – and sincerely soaked in the revelry of the Tifosi.

But racing at Monza wasn’t his only appointment in Italy while there. He also paid a visit to the Brembo factory in Stezzano. Brembo celebrates its 40th anniversary in motorsports this season.

A video is linked above, and the release of Vettel’s visit is linked below.

—

Sebastian Vettel, the four-time World Champion and Scuderia Ferrari driver, visited Brembo’s racing factory in Italy last week, to commemorate the Italian company’s 40th anniversary in motorsports.

Brembo, the world leader in the technology and production of brake systems and high performance automotive components, equips the most important F1 teams with its braking systems, including Scuderia Ferrari.

Brembo Chairman Alberto Bombassei welcomed and accompanied the German champion on his tour of the factory.

The successful partnership between Brembo and Scuderia Ferrari started in 1975, when Enzo Ferrari chose to equip his cars with the braking systems of the Italian Company. Brembo supplied the winning car used by Niki Lauda to win the Driver World Championship and the Constructor title. Since then, Brembo has earned 22 Drivers World Championships and 27 Constructors World Championships, 14 of those with Scuderia Ferrari.

During the visit, the German champion viewed how the braking systems he uses during the races are personalized and developed. Vettel met racing department engineers and personnel who, thanks to the constant investment in research and development, continue to further broaden and develop highly innovative technological solutions.

Formula One demands an extensive personalization and customization of brake systems, increasingly tailor-made and closely integrated with the design choices of the car.

The production of the personalized brake system needs six months of design and an additional month for mechanical manufacturing.

“If I think at the beginning, it’s impossible to forget the meeting with Enzo Ferrari: he gave me confidence and a work chance,” said Bombassei. “Since then, we have made a long way and today we are strongly present in F1 and in all other four and two-wheels Championships.”

At the end of the visit Vettel commented, “I’m here to celebrate the 40 years of Brembo, which has always worked with Ferrari. Everyone knows the importance of brakes in motorsport: go fast needs also to be able to brake strong! For this I’m happy of this partnership: to visit the factory has given me the possibility to value the quality of their technical level. Therefore, I would like to thank Brembo and wish so many successful years.”

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

Read more about SuperMotocross