Broken Brake pads

[Sonti2x]

Has anyone had front brake pads break on them? I had a set of Hawk HT-10 race pads, about 1/2 life, on stock e36 front brakes, and the pad material cracked top-bottom where the piston pushes on the backing plate of the inside pad on both sides of the car. This was after about 4 DE sessions at Summit Point, 2 of them back to back.

The pads stayed intact, but my pedal travel increased. I'm guessing that this was because the structural integrity of the pads had been diminished by the cracks, and the backing plate was flexing.

I've never seen this before, and was curious to know if anyone had experienced this. Any idea what could have caused them to break like this?

Thanks.
Sonti
'95 325i

[SMOODY]

I have seen the pad material crack before, but this usually occurs on pads that are near the end of their useful life when the pad material gets thin.