Two-time Dakar Rally champion & Red Bull Athlete Sam Sunderland is officially underway on his bid to become the fastest person to circumnavigate the globe on a motorcycle, having rolled out of London at 3:30am this morning.
Images courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool
The 37-year-old Brit faces almost 29,000 kilometres across 16 countries and five continents aboard his Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer, with one target in mind – beating the motorcycle circumnavigation record of 19 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes, set by fellow Britons Kevin and Julia Sanders in 2002.
Speaking exclusively to Dirt Hub just days before today’s departure, Sunderland revealed that his target is around 1,050 miles every riding day, potentially putting him on the bike for 15 to 17 hours a day.
After a broken back forced him to postpone the attempt last year, simply reaching this morning’s start line has been a challenge in itself.
Before Sam headed off, Dirt Hub caught up with the two-time Dakar winner to find out why he’s taking it on, how it compares with the world’s toughest rally raid, what worries him most and just what riding more than 1,000 miles a day actually looks like.
“It’s a big challenge before you even set off”
When Dirt Hub spoke to Sunderland two days before his departure, the huge logistical operation behind the attempt was virtually complete. Visas, flights, customs, carnets and the challenge of getting the same motorcycle through countries around the world have all had to be dealt with before Sunderland could even turn a wheel.
You’re just two days away from setting off. What’s the final preparation looking like?
Sam Sunderland: “The prep work’s pretty much done now, if I’m honest. In terms of all the visas and carnets for the bike and planning and stuff, fortunately Red Bull are looking after that for me because we wouldn’t be getting out of the UK if it was down to me! It’s a minefield for sure, trying to figure out all the flights and customs and travel plans. The world’s a big place and every country has different rules and regulations about which bike can come in and how you must do that. It’s a big challenge before you even set off.”
Sunderland retired from professional competition in 2024, having won the Dakar Rally for the first time in 2017 and again in 2022, the same year he became the inaugural FIM World Rally-Raid Champion. But rather than putting his feet up after retiring from racing, Sunderland went looking for another challenge.
Why take on something like this after winning the Dakar?
Sam: “I’ve always been into endurance challenges, like Dakar and the World Rally stuff. I quite like that delayed gratification type challenge, where you have to just put in effort, effort, effort for a long time. This is a challenge of trying to be as perfect as you can be for a long period of time. I quite like adventures, throwing myself into the unknown and trying to figure it out. You come up with stories and other people’s stories along the way. I feel super fortunate to be in the position to be able to go and do such things. So why not now?”
Is it actually harder than the Dakar?
Sam: “It’s pretty heavy, honestly. It’s just different compared to Dakar because you don’t have the adrenaline factor. Adrenaline is a wonderful thing in terms of suffering because you can get through so much suffering when you’re full of adrenaline. This is more like a mental fatigue challenge of staying focused for a lot, a lot of hours back-to-back and a lot of time on your own. It’s a gruelling one for sure, in a different way than the Dakar, but perhaps more challenging in some aspects. The pace at the front of Dakar is phenomenal. It’s hard for anyone to grasp just how fast it is without doing it. 100% of the time you’re racing, it’s new terrain. You’re always braking as late as you can into a corner that you’ve never been around in your life. It’s a wild race. It’s hard to understand how wild without doing it.”
So what does a day actually look like when you’re trying to ride around the world in record time?
Sam: “1,050 miles. 1,050 miles a day. If you put it in kilometres, it’s around 1,700. Then if you say, ‘I’m going to average 100 kilometres an hour,’ that’s 17 hours. And it’s quite hard to average that when you think of fuel stops, traffic, tolls, borders, eating. Your average speed drops so quick as soon as you stop. So I’m going to be looking at about 15 to 17 hours a day on the bike. You’ll leave at like 4am and you stop at lunchtime for a quick bite to eat – and I mean like jamming a Maccas down your throat – fuel, a nap and you’re off again. You get back on the bike and you’ve still got like nine hours to go. You’re like, ‘How? I feel like I’ve been riding forever already.’ The current record holders set the bar pretty high and I guess that’s why it’s stood for 24 years. It’s brutal.”
The record that has stood since 2002
The target Sunderland is chasing has stood for almost a quarter of a century. British husband-and-wife Kevin and Julia Sanders set the current benchmark in 2002, completing their motorcycle circumnavigation in 19 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes. Far from guarding their record, the pair have supported Sunderland’s attempt by sharing their experience and providing insight into the requirements needed for his journey to count as a true circumnavigation.
“Records are meant to be broken,” said Kevin Sanders. “We did this more than 20 years ago. Sam’s going to face a whole set of new challenges compared to back then.”
Under the rules of the challenge, Sunderland must travel continuously in one direction around the globe, start and finish at the same location, touch two antipodal points – locations on opposite sides of the Earth – and cover at least 18,000 miles. Crucially, the entire journey must also be completed using the same motorcycle. Ocean crossings do not count towards the record time, with the official clock paused while Sunderland and his bike are transferred between continents.
You’ve done some practice runs for this. With things like blisters and soreness, how have you found those longer rides? Have you discovered anything you weren’t expecting?
Sam: “I was alright for blisters and stuff. I’m riding the Triumph Tiger 1200, it’s got cruise control, heated grips and it pretty much rides itself. But my shoulders got absolutely ruined. My shoulders and my neck got really sore. It’s quite hard to train for that specific movement of just fighting the wind all day. You’re almost like a nodding dog in the back of the car.”
His Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer is equipped with Michelin Anakee Road tyres and carries a large 30-litre fuel tank, while Triumph’s global dealer and aftersales network will be available should urgent maintenance be required during the attempt.
You were going to do this challenge previously, but you broke your back in training. From following your career, I get the feeling that almost made you even more determined to come back and do it?
Sam: “I’ve had plenty of injuries in my career. You have a few days where you’re like, ‘That’s it, I’m not going to hurt myself, I’ve done too much now surely.’ Then a few more days go by and you start seeing your mates out riding or racing and you picture where you might be in the race or what you’d like to do. Before you know it you’re like, ‘Oh yeah, come on, let’s go. What else am I gonna do?’ Obviously breaking your back is a serious thing and you roll the dice every time that happens. You never know if you can end up paralysed. I did T1, two and three. I didn’t need surgery and luckily I went over to Austria to the Red Bull Athlete Performance Centre. I raced Romaniacs for five days a few weeks ago and my back was pretty good, so I think we’ll be right.”
Where will Sunderland’s route take him?
Starting and finishing in London, Sunderland will cross Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, North America and North Africa. The six-leg route begins with London to Istanbul, before the journey continues from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur.
From there, Sunderland will cross the Australian outback from Perth to Sydney, before riding the length of New Zealand. Next comes the longest section of the challenge, crossing North America from Vancouver to Montreal, before the final leg takes Sunderland from Casablanca in Morocco back to London. Along the way he’ll encounter everything from the Australian outback to the Bonneville Salt Flats, as well as multiple long-haul transfers and constantly changing climates and time zones.
Where are you looking forward to visiting the most?
Sam: “I’m really looking forward to going to New Zealand. I’ve never been and I’ve heard a lot of cool things about it. I love nature. I like going out in the mountains with my dog, walking, hiking and seeing the sights. When I was racing I’ve managed to visit such cool places, but it’s very race focused. You fly in, do the race and you’re back to the airport and you’re out. On this trip, as much as I’m in a rush, I’ve got much more time without that pressure. New Zealand is definitely up there on the list of places I’ve always wanted to go.”
What worries you the most?
Sam: “I’m obviously most worried about the other road users because they’re the uncontrollable. Australia is going to be a hard one because it’s going to be probably 42 degrees. I’ve got five days back-to-back there. There’s a lot of kangaroos and camels and emus. Bangkok and Malaysia are going to be hard because they’re quite densely populated – tuk-tuks and bits and pieces going around. But it’s all part of it. In order for it to be inspiring, I feel like it needs to be difficult. Nowadays you turn the news on and there’s a lot of doom and gloom around. Hopefully this can get people fired up to get out and go for their own adventures.”
Sam Sunderland’s world record attempt
Start: London – 5 September 2026, 3:30am
Bike: Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer
Tyres: Michelin Anakee Road
Fuel capacity: 30 litres
Distance: Almost 29,000km / more than 18,000 miles
Countries: 16
Continents: Five
Daily target: Approx. 1,050 miles
Time on bike: Approx. 15–17 hours per riding day
Record to beat: 19 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes
Current record holders: Kevin and Julia Sanders – 2002
After you’ve done this, do you reckon you’re going to have a nice bit of time off the bike?
Sam: “I’ll probably jump straight back on the motocross bike and start prepping for some beach race stuff! I love riding bikes and motocross is probably one of my favourite things. Even after Dakar I probably wouldn’t stay off the bike for a week. I’ll probably try and go for a little holiday, take the family somewhere.”
At 3:30am this morning, the preparation stopped and Sunderland’s record attempt began He’s now on the first leg from London to Istanbul, with the clock ticking as he attempts to beat Kevin and Julia Sanders’ record of 19 days, 8 hours and 25 minutes.
We’ll be following Sam’s progress here on Dirt Hub as he makes his way around the world. You can follow Sunderland’s progress around the world via Red Bull’s interactive journey coverage. Red Bull is currently featuring the challenge as “Around the world in 19 days: the lowdown on Sam Sunderland’s epic challenge.”
Follow Sam Sunderland’s round-the-world challenge on Red Bull
