Belgian motorcyclist Thierry Sarasyn has broken his touring world record. In less than a day he visited fifteen countries. On Saturday evening at 8:04 p.m., the 56-year-old motorcyclist from Wetteren set foot in the Dutch Eijsden, just across the border at Voeren. The tour started on Friday evening at 10 p.m. at Koniakow in Poland.
Until last year, the world record for the most countries in one day was held by Italian Valerio Boni. It visited eleven countries in less than 24 hours. Thierry Sarasyn broke that record last year by visiting thirteen countries in one day. ‘The goal then was fourteen countries, but when I drove into Belgium after less than 20 hours, I realized that 15 countries should also be possible,’ says Sarasyn. A year later that is now a fact.
On a Kawasaki Versys 1000, he ticked his road book successively Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium and finally the Netherlands. Good for a total of 2,200 kilometers.
“It could have been an hour faster. Through a closed tunnel on the border between Germany and Austria – after an accident – I stood still for over an hour. The tunnel closed right in front of me,” Sarasyn says by phone.
The ride went smoothly, thanks to the good preparation. Only the first 700 to 800 kilometers at night were a tough one due to the heavy rain. Fortunately, the weather turned around afterwards and it actually became an unexpectedly smooth ride, at an average of about 100 kilometers per hour. With no speed violation whatsoever,” said Sarasyn, who did not want to turn his journey into a modern Cannonball race.
2023-05-20 20:31:18
#Thierry #Sarasyn #breaks #world #touring #record #countries #hours
