Last year fans at the Dutch TT fans were treated to a battle royale, it was the MotoGP equivalent of Senna vs Prost, Real Madrid vs Barcelona or Floyd Mayweather vs Conor McGregor, the series biggest stars put on one of the best shows on two wheels in modern history, with over 100 overtakes between 8 riders made.
This year the paddock heads into Assen on the back of a spectacular state of affairs in Catalunya, where Jorge Lorenzo made a mistake that took out Valentino Rossi, Maverick Vinales and Andrea Dovizioso, an accident that involved 4 world champions with 16 world championships between them.
Valentino Rossi heads to the Dutch TT with a win drought of exactly two years, his last win was at Assen in 2017 underlining the issues the Factory Yamaha squad are having, with only one other win in a two year period which came at Phillip Island last season for Maverick Vinales.
Ducati’s rider Andrea Dovizioso will be hoping he can claw back some points on championship leader Marc Marquez who currently leads the championship by a massive 37 points, team-mate Danilo Petrucci comes into Assen on the back of 2 podiums after his fantastic win in Mugello and third place in Catalunya.
Maverick Vinales has all but written off his title chances, speaking earlier in the week to crash.net saying he will be “concentrating as many podiums as possible”, but still feeling confident after a successful test in Catalunya.
Ahead of the weekend Franco Morbidelli took to the wheel of Bruno Spengler‘s BMW DTM car, Morbidelli of course will be hoping the extra track time may give him an advantage over his rookie sensation team-mate Fabio Quatararo, who is fresh off of his second pole position in the premier class and of course his first podium, having secured second last time out.
LCR Castrol Honda rider Cal Crutchlow will be hoping to be back up the sharp end after crashing out of the Spanish Grand Prix, having struggled all weekend last time out, Assen couldn’t have come at a better time a circuit where Cal has gone well at in the past.
The stage is set for another thrilling weekend of MotoGP action, who will take the spoils on Sunday at the ‘Cathedral of Speed?’
