Do you remember what you were doing in the back half of June, 2021? That’s OK, neither do we—but we CAN tell you what MV Agusta and seasoned Italian moto journalist Valerio Boni were doing. That’s when Boni and MV were busy planning and executing a 24-hour world record attempt on an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce.
How did they do? On June 20, 2021, Boni set out from Sweden and traveled a total of 2,003 kilometers (1,244 miles) in 24 hours. He passed through 11 different countries on the way and managed to secure world record glory for himself, MV Agusta, and tire maker Bridgestone, which equipped his Turismo Veloce with a set of T32 tires that performed quite well in this test.
Jump forward in time a year to June 19, 2022, and Belgian rider Thierry Sarasyn decided to try his hand at beating Boni’s record. Like Boni, though, he rode an MV Agusta Turismo Veloce, also outfitted with a nice, new set of Bridgestone T32 tires. He and his team set their ambitions even higher, though—with the goal of 14 countries in 24 hours, instead of just 11. Could he do it?
Gallery: Thierry Sarasyn MV Agusta Turismo Veloce European Record 2022
Sarasyn’s goal was to travel through the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Germany, France, Luxemburg, Belgium, and Holland, in that order. Just making it to Luxemburg would be enough to break Boni’s current record, as that would be Sarasyn’s 12th country (where Boni hit 11).
Strategy was, of course, incredibly important. Speaking on his planning methodology prior to the attempt, Sarasyn said, “I hope to get as much daylight as I can. I’m riding on a Sunday which will hopefully mean there’s less traffic. And daylight starts earlier in the east, while it gets dark later in the west. I should get around 19 hours of daylight on this trip.”
In the end, Sarasyn managed to make it through 13 countries with a time of 19 hours and 43 minutes. He used the Legends Tracking system for official tracking purposes, which recorded his whereabouts with a timestamp once per minute along the route. It’s used by other world record attempters, including cyclists, triathletes, and so on. Sarasyn traveled a total of 1,808 kilometers, which is a slightly shorter distance than Boni—but managed to pass through two more countries during that time.
