On September 5, Sam Sunderland will finally begin his globetrotting journey with the goal of setting the fastest circumnavigation on a motorcycle. The record to beat is 19 days, 8 hours, and 25 minutes.

Sunderland was supposed to make the world record attempt in 2025, but broke his back in a training accident. The injury also prevented him from making his Enduropale du Touquet debut earlier this year. He’s since fully healed, as evidenced by the hard enduro races he has been doing like Red Bull Romaniacs.

Like in his aborted attempt last year, he will go on a Triumph Tiger 1200 Rally Explorer. He must stay on the same bike for the entire trip, travel in a continuous direction, and go 18,000. The trip will start and finish at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, where he revealed the program in August.

“I’ve always been one for pushing myself, trying to do long difficult things and this definitely ticks the boxes,” said Sunderland. “I love an adventure. I’ve been able to travel to some really cool places throughout my career, but mostly I’ve been there to race, super race orientated, focusing on trying to win, whereas now I can have a little look around, a bit experience, a few of the cultures and that’s something really important to me.”

He expects to travel roughly 1,050 miles and 17 hours each day. Australia and Thailand are countries he figures would be most difficult due to their temperatures and dense animal population, respectively, while New Zealand is where he’s most keen on visiting.

The record was set by Kevin and Julia Sanders on a BMW R1150GS in 2002. The couple had helped Sunderland prepare for his 2025 attempt and given their blessing for his upcoming go.

If the effort succeeds, he’ll join Antanas Kanopkinas as rally raiders who’ve set world records in recent years. Kanopkinas is the record holder for the furthest distance set riding an ATV.

Featured image credit: Mark Roe / Red Bull Content Pool