It’s May 2023, and Belgian rider Thierry Sarasyn is at it again—or rather, he was. On Friday, May 19, 2023, Sarasyn set out from the triangular border of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia on a very specific, thoroughly planned journey. The goal: To visit 15 European countries in under 24 hours on his Kawasaki Versys 1000. If he succeeded, he’d break the previous world record that he’d set just a year prior, when he visited 13 countries in under 24 hours on an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce.
The whole thing started as a bit of a joke, according to Sarasyn. In June 2022, he set out to break Valerio Boni’s existing world record for most countries visited by motorcycle in 24 hours. Back in 2021, Boni visited 11 countries in 24 hours on his MV Agusta Turismo Veloce, traveling a total of 2,003 kilometers (1,244 miles) along the way. In 2022, Sarasyn officially upped the record to 13 countries visited in just 19 hours and 43 minutes—but only traveled 1,808 kilometers (about 1,123.4 miles) in the process thanks to geography.
