Here Assen, where the rivalry between Valentino and Marc Marquez began. Everything about the Dutch circuit

Too many clandestine races on Dutch roads. Too many deaths. In the end, the local government gave in: and on July 11, a century ago, it gave the green light to the first motorcycle race. In the North-East, in a sort of triangle between the areas of Rolde, Borger and Schonloo: near the city of Assen . Welcome to the Cathedral of Speed , which since 1949 – the debut of the MotoGP – has been home to one of the most iconic events, certainly the longest-running: only the pandemic, in 2020, forced a stop. The one taking place over the weekend is therefore the 76th edition. In the first, adventurous, race – that of 1925 – they challenged each other on straights, bumps and tight bends for 28 and a half kilometers, in front of ten thousand enthusiastic spectators: then a Haarlem enthusiast, a certain Arie Wuring, won, riding a 250 cc and at an average speed of 42 kmh.

Valentino and Marc Marquez: It all started here

The length of the circuit has progressively decreased: it was 16 and a half kilometers in 1954, just under 8 the following year, then 6.4 in 1984: the last adjustment was made in 2006, now the route is 4.542 kilometers. In 1975 Barry Sheene and Giacomo Agostini crossed the finish line at the same time: they were so close to each other that the manual stopwatch assigned the same time, but the victory went to the British rider. In 1986, 6 Hondas arrived in front of everyone and the first was the one ridden by Randy Mamola . Until 10 years ago, the race was scheduled for Saturday: on the first Sunday in Dutch history, Valentino Rossi won, cutting the final curve in the sand after a reckless attack by Marc Marquez and unleashing the anger of the Catalan , which months later led to the unfortunate “contact” in Sepang.

MotoGp Assen, time and where to watch it on TV

Tenth round of the 2025 season, the Dutch GP will be visible all weekend on Sky Sport and streaming on Now, while Tv8 will broadcast the qualifying sessions and the sprint race on Saturday live and delayed on Sunday. After the first practice sessions in the morning, the Moto3 pre-qualifying sessions are scheduled for 1.15 pm on Friday, the Moto2 ones from 2.05 pm and the MotoGP ones from 3 pm. Saturday morning, the second free practice session for Moto3 is at 8.40 am, for Moto2 from 9.25 am and for MotoGP from 10.10 am: immediately following, the MotoGP qualifying sessions (10.50 am), while the Moto3 ones are at 12.50 pm and the Moto2 ones at 1.45 pm. At 3 pm the green light for the sprint race. On Sunday there is a short 10-minute MotoGP warm up at 9.40 am, then off to the races. Moto3 starts at 11am, Moto2 at 12.15pm, MotoGp at 2pm.

Assen, a circuit with few braking sections (but watch out for turn 1)

According to Brembo technicians, who manage the braking systems of the world championship riders, the Assen circuit is among those "not very challenging" for braking. On a scale of 1 to 6, it earned a difficulty index of 2, because only 2 of the 10 braking sections are in the "hard" category, compared to 3 "medium" and 5 "light". In one lap, the riders rely on the brakes for 26 and a half seconds with an overall load on the brake lever of almost 33 kilos. The hardest curve of the TT Circuit Assen for the braking system is the first: the MotoGP bikes go from 292 to 116 kmh in 3.7 seconds, covering 201 meters.