MotoGP: Dutch Grand Prix – The Cathedral Awaits

June 26, 2019

The MotoGP Championship heads to Round 8 of the championship at the TT Circuit Assen for the Dutch round of the championship at a circuit that echoes the ghosts from the championships 70 year history.

The Assen circuit is the only circuit on the calendar to have featured on every Calendar since the championships inception in 1949. The circuit has gone through many different variations over the years with the circuit length in that years championship -16.536 km (10.275 mi) compared to the modern version which has ran from 2010 onward – 4.545km (2.824 mi).

Known as the Cathedral of Speed the Dutch circuit is a true test of rider skill and bike control, with lots of fast changes of direction, the rider barely gets a second rest. The bike and rider need to work in song to get the best from each other, having a bike that isn’t set up to accommodate those changes of direction and sink itself into the banked corners of the circuit will mean that you are in for a tough Sunday at Church.

Catch Me If You Can

Marc Marquez will be aiming to extend his already large championship lead after picking up his 4th win of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He now leads the championship by 37 points over nearest championship contender Andrea Dovizioso.

Over his impressive career Marquez hasn’t had much success at Assen in terms of wins, the Spaniard has picked up two wins from six previous starts, most recently his recent success coming last season when he fought off a large group of riders to take his 4th win of 2018.

Assen is a circuit which suits Marquez as he has been on the podium in the premier class in all his starts at the Dutch circuit, after the recent form that Marquez has been on, it will be incredibly difficult to look past his to add a fifth win this season and third and six across all categories.

Mission (Must) Win-now

The man that is arguably under the most pressure to perform this weekend is Ducati rider – Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian hasn’t won a race since Round 1 at Qatar and after being taken out on lap 2 at the previous round, has slipped over a race win behind Marquez. Giving the 7x champion a lead as large as that this early on will only give him the confidence to continue on his run of form.

Ducati haven’t had a stellar record around the venue, their last win coming win Casey Stoner all the way back in 2008 on board the 800cc – Desmodromic beast. Andrea Dovizioso’s record around the circuit has more to be desired, the Italian having never won in any of the three categories he has raced and has only scored 4 podiums across his 17 previous season, most recently picking up a 2nd place finish behind Marquez in a very damp 2014 race.

Potentially Ducati’s best hope of a result or win could come from either Danilo Petrucci or Jack Miller. Both have had more recent success at the Circuit van Drenthe, the former nearly pinching the win from Valentino Rossi as they both crossed the finish line 0.063 apart. Jack Miller picked up his only win on board the Honda – RC213V in 2016, the race was restarted after weather conditions stopped proceedings. When Rossi crashed from a comfortable lead after the re-start, Miller closed down Marquez and became the first rider – since Toni Elias at Estoril 2006 – to become the first satellite team rider to win a race.

The main objective for Dovi and Ducati is to pick up the win and get as many other Ducati riders as possible between himself and Marquez. If Marquez beats Dovizisoso this weekend then it will be incredibly tough for him to respond to the championship challenge.

Can The Winless Streak Come To An End?

There aren’t many/if any names more synonymous with the Assen circuit than Valentino Rossi. The Italian star has made the place his own over his 23 years in the sport with his records being virtually unmatched.

10 – Wins

13 – podiums (10x 1st, 2x 2nd, 1x 3rd)

7 – Pole Positions

7 – Fastest Laps

As of writing this article (June 26th) it has now been 2 years since Rossi picked up a win in MotoGP – 25th June 2017, this his longest win drought since the gap between his win at Malaysia 2010 and his win at Assen in 2013. That gap was 2 years and eight months. Assen could be Rossi’s best chance of a win since his last victory, he has won 3 races from his MotoGP’s previous six visits to the circuit.

Rossi will have a chance as good as anybody to take the win this weekend, the Yamaha M1 is a bike that is well suited to the circuit, the Yamaha is a chassis that enjoys fast a flowing changes of direction and with the bike handling always coming into it’s sweet spot over the 18 turn course, the Japanese marque could pick up its first top step (of the podium) in 2019. Yamaha has enjoyed much of it’s success in the modern MotoGP (2002 – present) at Assen, picking up 9 wins – 7x Valentino Rossi, 1x Jorge Lorenzo (2010) and 1x Ben Spies (2011).

What Else To Look For

Fabio Quartararo has been very impressive in his rookie campaign in 2019, scoring 2 pole positions (Jerez and Catalunya) and at many times has looked like the fastest Yamaha rider. At a circuit that suits the Yamaha and with his very Jorge Lorenzo-esque riding style, we could see the young Frenchman challenging or possibly taking his maiden MotoGP victory, two weeks after his first podium.

Jorge Lorenzo will be looking to make amends for his crash at Catalunya when he took out Dovizioso, Maverick Vinales and Rossi when he lost the front at turn 10 on lap 2. The Spaniard hasn’t scored a top 10 result since his win at the RedBull Ring in Austria last August. He showed a good turn off pace on the Honda at the Catalan circuit and will be hoping/needing to build upon that base setup when the riders hit the track in FP1.

“I’m pleased with the results because I fell pretty good, despite lateral movement still being a problem due to the bone oedema”

Another rider that was taken out at the horrible turn 10 in Catalunya was Aleix Espargaro – The Aprillia factory rider was t-boned by his wild-card team-mate Bradley Smith on lap 1. Espargaro sustained two micro fractures on his left leg, one on the femur (the longest bone in the body) and one to the tibia. He is on target to try and ride this weekend, telling GPone.com “I’m pleased with the results because I fell pretty good, despite lateral movement still being a problem due to the bone oedema”. This is fluid building up in the bone.

Moto2

Alex Marquez has been all the talk recently, his performances have gained him the attention of some in the paddock asking if he’ll be in MotoGP to join his brother Marc for 2020. However, his focus is solely remaining on Moto2 for the time being – “my dream is to compete in the MotoGP next year but I realize that there are not many openings left. This is why I prefer not to think about it” – the the 23 year old told GPone.com

The Spaniard has been on a stunning run of form as of late, picking up three consecutive wins, this now sees him leading the championship by 7 points over Swiss rider Tom Luthi. Marquez will be aiming for 4 wins from 4 races, his only win at Assen came in 2014 in the Moto3 class when he won from 2nd on the grid.

This weekend will see a new winner in Moto2 at the Dutch Circuit as all previous race winners from 2010 onward now race in MotoGP.

Moto3

7 different winners from the first seven races and 12 winners from the previous 12 races is a stat that has never been seen before in Grand Prix racing and just goes to show how competitive the Moto3 championship is. The different winners list stretches back to the Chang International Circuit in Thailand (2018) when Fabio Di Giannantonio took victory. The list of winners (below) is quite impressive.

Fabio Di Giannantonio – Chang International Circuit – Thailand
Marco Bezzechi – Twin Ring Motegi – Japan
Albert Arenas – Phillip Island – Australia
Jorge Martin – Sepang International Circuit – Malaysia
Can Oncu – Circuit Ricardo Tormo – Valencia
Kaito Toba – Losail International Circuit – Qatar
Jaume Masia – Termas de Rio Hondo – Argentina
Aron Canet – Circuit of the Americas – USA
Niccolo Antonelli – Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto – Spain
John McPhee – Le Mans – France
Tony Arbolino – Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello – Italy
Marcos Ramirez – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
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Aron Canet is the only rider currently competing in the Moto3 class that has previously won at Aseen, he done that back in 2017.

MotoGP at Assen will always provide something very special and a unique challenge to the riders as they fight closely with other riders around them and scrap over every inch of the circuit. The TT Circuit Assen at times more resembles a boxing ring rather than a race circuit with the knockout punch usually coming at the final Geert Timmer Chicane on the last lap. Who will deliver that blow come Sunday? We’ll have to watch to find out.