The World Championship began in 1949, and that very first year marked the very first Dutch TT in Assen. On the calendar every season since, 265 GP races for solo motorcycles have been held at the track and 2018 is the 70th time it’s counted towards the Championship…so what’s changed?
The original Assen circuit that was used up to 1954 measured 16.54 km, before it was reduced to 7.7km in 1955. The track was then modified further and refined down to 6.1km in 1984. But since 2006 it’s stayed pretty much the same 4.5km – with the biggest change of late in the timetable rather than the layout.
In 2016, the Dutch TT was held on Sunday for the first time. Before that, tradition held that the event took place on a Saturday…and so it was for the first 67 editions. So some things have changed as we gear up for the 2018 Motul TT Assen – but the legend, magic and myth of the Dutch GP remain the same. In 2018 there is something that harks back rather than forward, too, with the races held in July for the first time since 1955.
Tune in from Friday at 9:00 (GMT +2) for FP1s, before race day on SUNDAY the 1st July!