This has been a big year for Italian brakes and clutch specialist Newfren. A stream of application updates for their wide ranging brake pads programme has been followed by new Pro Race QC clutch plate development applications; high performance fixed brake, solid and steel hub floating discs laser-cut in AISI420 steel for off-road and street; hardened and coated AISI420 steel vintage application discs with Ergal 7075 T6 machined from solid hub; plus urban-friendly Pro Race brake shoes.
The first production began in the early 1960s, but founder Alessandro Barbero started the business in the 1950s and quickly established a reputation for innovation - developing gravity and high-pressure die casting and brake shoes without rivets among other firsts.
Indeed, innovation is still the focus with present CEO Valter Barbero continuing to invest heavily in manufacturing technology, materials science and R&D at the company's UNI EN ISO 9001-2015 process certified 65,000 sq ft facilty/100,000 sq ft site near Turin.
Newfren's internal R&D team is led by a race experienced mechanical engineers and includes specialised technicians and skills-rich teams and riders who are at their disposal for testing.
Barbero says that "for example, take our Pro Race QC clutches - they were only allowed to go to market after more than two years of testing by the most renowned motocross riders and once they had confirmed them to be the best they had used, especially for grabbing the Holeshot."
Among the accolades, Alberto Forato of Maddii Racing team said "I will never start without the Newfren clutch," his race team partner Mattia Guadagnini won the Italian MX championship with the Newfren Pro Race QC clutch, and many Moto3 riders such as the Angel Nieto CIV-CEV team riders use the Newfren 'HP' special steel clutch discs that were developed specifically for the demands of the Moto3 championship, Newfren having been the clutch plate technical partner for Moto3 ever since the series made its debut.
"It isn't only race requirements and market forces that drive R&D," says Barbero, "there are also the technical regulations in terms of materials used, how they are used and the environmental impact they have are important drivers of R&D for any friction material manufacturer in the 21st century.
"I am proud to say that Newfren is now working to obtain the new European products homologation (R90) in order to be always up to date, much as our products were TÜV ABE homologated from the 2000s. The newest material certifications - REACH regulation, PROP65 and CEPA, are also topics on the table for us at Newfren."
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