Sam Sunderland has completed the second stage of his attempt to set the fastest motorcycle circumnavigation of the globe on a Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer. The two-time Dakar Rally winner travelled 948 miles from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 15 hours and 33 minutes. He departed at 21:32 UTC on Saturday, September 12, and arrived at 13:05 UTC on Sunday, September 13.

That stage brought Sunderland’s covered distance to 3,304 miles. The running record clock had reached two days, seven hours and seven minutes, including time spent resting. The attempt started at Greenwich in London at 03:00 UTC on Saturday, September 5, with the opening stage reaching Istanbul at 21:50 UTC on Sunday, September 6.

The route and the record Sunderland is chasing

On the first section between the UK and Istanbul, Sunderland crossed England, France, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey. His objective is to become the fastest rider to circumnavigate the world by motorcycle and beat the mark set by Kevin and Julia Sanders in 2002: 19 days, eight hours and 25 minutes of riding time.

The full route is expected to exceed 18,000 miles, cross five continents and include two antipodal points. The clock is paused during overseas crossings, but it continues through rest stops, adding to the physical demands of the longer sections.

The Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer will be used throughout the attempt and will ultimately have to return to Greenwich. Triumph’s new-for-2027 version is therefore being subjected to distances and recovery constraints well beyond those of an ordinary road test.