Two-time Dakar Rally champion Sam Sunderland left London at 3:30 AM on September 5 aboard a motorcycle nobody had seen. He is trying to circumnavigate the globe in under 19 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes.
That mark has stood since Kevin and Julia Sanders set it in 2002 on a BMW R1150GS. Nobody has broken it under the same rules since.
A Stealth Bike Launch
Triumph’s promotional materials showed Sunderland posing with a current 2026 Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer in Red Bull livery. When he pulled away from Greenwich in the dark, he was on a next-generation version with a new twin-headlight setup and reworked front end.
The bike has not been officially announced. Revealing a new model by handing it to someone about to ride 18,000 miles across five continents is a bold play.
He must ride the same motorcycle for the entire journey, traveling in a single direction across 15 countries and 13 time zones. The clock pauses during air and sea crossings, but getting the Tiger through customs at each transfer could cost hours.
The route runs from England through mainland Europe to Turkey, then through Saudi Arabia to the UAE. From there, Sunderland hops to Australia and New Zealand before heading to North America.
Morocco is next, then back through Spain to the UK. He expects up to 17 hours a day in the saddle.
Why This Record Has Lasted
Ryan Kluftinger of FortNine circled the globe in 16 days and 23 hours, but he swapped Ducati Multistrada V4 Rally machines at several stops and did not maintain a single direction of travel. Sunderland’s attempt follows the original Guinness World Records parameters, which require one bike and one direction throughout.
Sunderland was scheduled to attempt this in 2025, but a broken back during training put everything on hold. The delay gave Triumph time to prepare the next-gen Rally Explorer, and the stunt doubles as a public durability test.
A mechanical failure during an 18,000-mile record bid would be a rough debut for an unannounced model. The move fits Triumph’s pattern of betting big on engineering, like its Moto2 engine program that points toward a future Street Triple.
Sunderland’s progress is being tracked on his Instagram account. The world will know in about two weeks whether the record falls.
