The Dutch Grand Prix has been on the Grand Prix calendar since 1949. Also affectionately called the Assen TT in memory of an intimidating 16,54 km route, the Batavian classic had the originality of taking place on Saturday . For the first time this year, the race will be on Sunday. Who to make history?
Whoever wins this Sunday will open a new series for the modernized Assen track. A perspective which will raise awareness of the three usual protagonists united in just 22 points in the championship, a grouping at the top that we have not seen since 2012, the season when the title was played out between Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa.
The appointment of the Netherlands generally smiled on a Valentino Rossi who will this time seek a tenth career success in Holland. Coming out of a success in Barcelona, he is also the latest winner on this circuit, at the end of a memorable epilogue marked by a passage into the gravel trap after a final chicane where he had just suffered a final attack from his rival Marc Márquez. A racing event which marked the preliminaries of a deterioration of relations between the two men, with the Malaysian sequel that we know.
The meeting is therefore symbolic for the duo who buried the hatchet at the finish of the Catalan Grand Prix. If the Doctor wins, he will repeat the Dutch double of 2004 and 2005. If Márquez achieves his goals, he will record his second Dutch Grand Prix after his victory in 2014. But he is a third thief who is considering a completely different scenario.
This one is a Jorge Lorenzo who would like to forget the last meeting marked by tire problems and a collision with Iannone. Relegated ten lengths behind the official driver to whom he had to hand over control of the championship, Por Fuera returned to terrain where he had often experienced all or nothing. A collision with Marco Simoncelli in 2011, an accident with Alvaro Bautista from the first turn the following year. Then, in 2013, he fractured his left collarbone on Thursday to return to the handlebars on Saturday and take fifth place. Efforts that he paid off the following year, breaking down on the wet track to painfully snatch a thirteenth place. His only victory at Assen in MotoGP dates back to 2010. His most recent podium at the venue was last year, with a third place.
The underdog of choice will be called once again Pedrosa, on the podium at Barcelona, and never a winner at Assen. At this stage of the season, others will want to shine to better assert themselves. At Suzuki, we will always count on Casa Particular in ViñalesMore Aleix Espargaro will undoubtedly be motivated to show his employers that he deserved their trust. The one who will have to give up his place to alex rins is however expected from Aprilia. Ducati side, Andrea Iannone will be hungry for a comeback since he will start last on the starting grid, thus serving his sanction imposed on Barcelona following his collision with Lorenzo.
Finally, among satellite pilots, we wait Cal Crutchlow at the turning point after the latter achieved feats during the tests following the Catalan Grand Prix. The Briton achieved the top position in 2013 at Assen. But it was then on a Yamaha, the brand which has the most victories in the Netherlands with eight victories against five for Honda. Ducati has only won once, during the 2008 edition. Still, the referee will be the weather. Often capricious. Debates that a person will watch on TV Loris Baz still recovering and replaced by Pirro.
