Record breakers! Triumph and Iván Cervantes achieve greatest distance on a motorcycle in 24 hours

What’s the furthest distance you’ve ever ridden in a day? 100 miles? 500 miles? Maybe even 1000 miles? Well, five-time Enduro World Champion Iván Cervantes travelled 2493.27 miles in 24 hours on a Triumph Tiger 1200 GT Explorer to set a new Guinness World Record.

The equivalent of riding from London to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in a single day, Cervantes obliterated the previous record of 2116.39 miles to officially achieve ‘The greatest distance on a motorcycle in 24 hours (individual)’.

“It’s amazing. A [Guinness World Record] is a big word!” Iván told MCN. “I remember really well at around 4am in the night time the Triumph staff said to me: ‘okay, you have the record in your pocket I think it’s time to stop’. I said: ‘hey guys, I’m here and I don’t want another crazy rider like me to come and attempt this record again’.”

He continued: “You can imagine how much adrenaline I had in my body, and I wanted to go to my limit.”

The record was broken on the 12.649km high-speed ring at the Nardò Technical Center in Italy, with the Tiger 1200 GT Explorer adventure bike used in the attempt chosen at random from the production line at Triumph’s factory in Hinckley. It’s reported that no special modifications were made to the bike, other than running it in and giving it a first service. It was selected over other models in the range for comfort and the large 30-litre fuel tank.

“Iván’s achievement in taking the Guinness World Records title on the Tiger 1200 is simply incredible!” Triumph CEO Nick Bloor said. “His determination and perseverance have led him not only to beat the existing record, but to add almost 20% to the distance travelled in 24 hours. An outstanding effort, and one that everyone at Triumph is incredibly proud to have supported.”

Taking place on 30 April 2023, Iván completed 317 laps in excess of 200km/h (124.3mph) – beating the previous record set by American Carl Reese in 2017 with five hours left to spare. There was a total of 18 pitstops, around every 1.5hours, with 520-litres of fuel used.

When asked if he slept during the event, Iván added: “Believe me I tried, but after 10 minutes I couldn’t sleep because of all the adrenaline inside my body.”