European Championship on the road (and without wearing out the brakes)

6/16/2021

The perfect itinerary to watch 22 European Championship games, traveling only by car.

Together with the Tokyo Olympic Games, the European Football Championship is the sporting event of summer 2021. For the first time, it will be an itinerant tournament, with the 51 matches being hosted not only in 11 cities but in no fewer than 10 different countries: Spain, the UK (England and Scotland), Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Hungary, Romania and Azerbaijan.

A unique opportunity for those who love car travel, maybe with family and friends. Assuming that money is no object and that you can get tickets for each game, we studied the dates, times and locations of the matches to create an itinerary that allows live attendance at one game a day.

A slog with few rivals, often sleeping on the car seats to get to the destination in time, with travelers taking turns at the wheel. Unfortunately, the great distance of Baku (Azerbaijan) from the other locations took it out of the equation, the only reason for its absence from our itinerary.

In this tour of the old continent, we’ve tried to take the speed limits in force in the various countries into account as much as possible, which Brembo invites you to observe at all time. We’ve also aimed to see the greatest number of teams play: in the first phase we plan on attending two games per group with the exception of D, for which there are three games, changing location as much as possible, as demonstrated by the 9 different cities on the first 10 legs.

In total, there are 22 days with at least one match, but “only” 19 trips are planned because the idea is to be in Rome already for the opening game, and the semifinals and finale will all be held in London. The estimated total distance is 35,000 km (21,748 mi), taking the most direct route into consideration, but could rise to 40,000 (24,855) in the event of longer routes to avoid traffic jams or accidents.

DATE	TIME (24h)	LOCATION		GROUP	DISTANCETO THE NEXT LOCATION (km)
Jun-11	21	Rome	Turkey vs Italy	A	1,900 (1,181 mi)
Jun-12	18	Copenaghen	Denmark vs Finland	B	1,300 (801 mi)
Jun-13	15	London	England vs Croatia	D	2,200 (1,367 mi)
Jun-14	21	Seville	Spain vs Sweden	E	2,400 (1,491 mi)
Jun-15	21	Munich	France vs Germany	F	2,300 (1,429 mi)
Jun-16	15	St. Petersburg	Finland vs Russia	B	2,400 (1,491 mi)
Jun-17	21	Amsterdam	Netherlands vs Austria	C	1,000 (621 mi)
Jun-18	18	Glasgow	Croatia vs Czech R.	D	2,400 (1,491 mi)
Jun-19	15	Budapest	Hungary vs France	F	1,200 (746 mi)
Jun-20	18	Rome	Italy vs Wales	A	2,000 (1,243 mi)
Jun-21	18	Bucharest	Ukraine vs Austria	C	2,600 (1,616 mi)
Jun-22	21	London	Czech R. vs England	D	2,200 (1,367 mi)
Jun-23	18	Seville	Slovakia vs Spain	E	2,200 (1,367 mi)
Jun-26	18	Amsterdam	runner-up A vs runner-up B	ROUND OF 16	1,400 (870 mi)
Jun-27	18	Budapest	winner C vs a 3rd	ROUND OF 16	1,300 (801 mi)
Jun-28	18	Copenaghen	runner-up D vs runner-up E	ROUND OF 16	1,700 (1,056 mi)
Jun-29	21	Glasgow	winner E vs a 3rd	ROUND OF 16	1,800 (1,118 mi)
Jul-02	21	Munich	winner 4 vs winner 2	QUARTER FINALS	900 (559 mi)
Jul-03	21	Rome	winner 8 vs winner 7	QUARTER FINALS	1,800 (1,118 mi)
Jul-06	21	London	first semifinal	SEMIFINALS	0
Jul-07	21	London	second semifinal	SEMIFINALS	0
Jul-11	21	London	final	FINAL	0

This kind of distance can affect some car components, like the tires, which may reach the end of their service life, but the same can’t be said for the braking system. That’s not so much because of the mileage as because of the routes indicated.

If we took the highway from one city to the next – without the time to take in picturesque roads or visits to historic centers away from the stadiums – brake disc and pad wear would be truly minimal. It’s easy to appreciate that consumption of friction material (discs and pads) on the highway is much lower than on extra-urban roads, which in turn is much lower than wear in the urban cycle.

In addition to the type of route, of course, the other extremely important variable in brake wear is driving style. More restrained driving characterized by less braking with less intensity tends to preserve discs and pads for longer.

Those who love lightning acceleration and sudden braking (because their team is winning, perhaps), on the other hand, subject the friction material to greater strain than drivers who go easier on the pedals. That means they have to go to the garage much more often to replace the pads, and of course have to pay extra.

For this, we recommend Brembo Expert workshops, because of the professional, cutting-edge service that they can offer. All members of this network receive regular technical training that allows them to work professionally, accurately and quickly.

Brembo Expert workshops can be located easily and intuitively using Brembo Maps. There are 230 in Italy, 360 in the UK, 51 in Germany, 20 in France, 800 in the Netherlands, in Bulgaria and 195 in Russia. We don’t know how many of them are soccer lovers. After all, what matters is that they know everything about brakes, not the offside rule.

Another factor that affects the consumption when it comes to the braking system is the type of car – the greater its mass, the greater the effort required to decelerate or stop. We would also point out that Brembo original equipment brakes are studied and tested to offer the maximum performance on the car where they’re installed.

Each individual component of the braking system (caliper, disc, pad) or adjoining component (suspension and control unit) complements the others to optimize braking. To do this, Brembo works with the most prestigious global manufacturers, with integrated engineering services that accompany the development of a new car.

Another variable that affects braking efficiency is the hardness of the compound used to produce the brake pads and the corresponding production process. As with the studs on the shoes, the choice of the right material for brakes can significantly affect pad wear and thus overall performance, as well as absorption of noise and vibration.

Brembo uses more than 100 different compounds for its pads, resulting in more than 1,400 products, for over 98% of the cars in circulation in Europe. Each is designed to always offer the most suitable solution for the type of car and drive, in terms of both performance and comfort.

Braking system wear is also influenced by the type of transmission used. With automatic transmissions the values are higher than with manual transmissions, because engine braking is reduced when there is no option to downshift voluntarily.

The absence of a clutch itself can also lead to increased consumption when switching from a car with a manual gearbox to one with an automatic transmission, due to inability to adjust brake use. To put it simply, the brakes are slammed on accidentally more often.

As if that wasn’t enough, the number of people on board, their weight and the amount of luggage they take with them also affect braking. That means increased stopping distance first and foremost, but also pad consumption, since greater effort is required.

Even if you don’t have to travel around Europe to see all these games, you can still look for the right pads for your car.