TT Circuit Assen
Encyclopedia
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
race track
Race track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
built in 1955 and located in Assen
Assen
Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Host of the Dutch TT
Dutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
race, it is considered "The Cathedral" of motorcycling
Motorcycling
Motorcycling is the act of riding a motorcycle. A variety of subcultures and lifestyles have been built up around motorcycling.-Benefits:Robert M. Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was a paean celebrating motorcycling...
by the fans. It has a capacity of 100,000 spectators, including 60,000 seats
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
.
Since 1992 it is also part of the Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship
Superbike World Championship is the worldwide Superbike racing Championship. The championship was founded in . The Superbike World Championship season consists of a series of rounds held on permanent racing facilities...
calendar.
History
The original Assen track was first used for the 1925 Dutch TTDutch TT
The Dutch TT is a motorcycling event, traditionally held on the last Saturday of June at the TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands, as part of the MotoGP World Championship. In the past all classes , nowadays only the 125 cc, Moto2 and the MotoGP...
(Tourist Trophy) race, held on country roads through the villages of Borger, Schoonloo
Schoonloo
Schoonloo is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 14 km southeast of Assen.In 2001, the town of Schoonloo had 70 inhabitants...
and Grolloo
Grolloo
Grolloo is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Aa en Hunze, and lies about 11 km southeast of Assen.In 2001, the village of Grolloo had 541 inhabitants...
, and organized by the Motorclub Assen en Omstreken. The brick-paved track had a length of 17.75 miles (28.57 km). The winner was Piet van Wijngaarden on a 500 cc Norton
Norton (motorcycle)
Norton is a British motorcycle marque, originally from Birmingham, founded in 1898 as a manufacturer of "fittings and parts for the two-wheel trade". By 1902, they had begun manufacturing motorcycles with bought-in engines. In 1908, a Norton-built engine was added to the range...
with an average speed of 91.4 kilometre per hour.
In years afterwards the Dutch TT was held on a road circuit through de Haar
De Haar (Assen)
De Haar is a village in the Netherlands and it is part of the Assen municipality in Drenthe. De Haar has an altitude of about 11 meters....
, Barteldbocht (near Assen), Oude Tol, Hooghalen
Hooghalen
Hooghalen is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 9 km south of Assen....
, Laaghalen
Laaghalen
Laaghalen is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 9 km south of Assen....
and Laaghalerveen
Laaghalerveen
Laaghalerveen is a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. It is a part of the municipality of Midden-Drenthe, and lies about 8 km south of Assen.-Present day:The center of Laaghalerveen now exists of an old school, a tiny church and a shop all closed...
.
In 1951 the Italian Umberto Masetti
Umberto Masetti
Umberto Masetti was an Italian two-time World Champion Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. In 1950, he became the first Italian to win the 500cc World Championship.-Career:...
took the record on a 500 cc Gilera
Gilera
Gilera is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer founded in Arcore in 1909 by Giuseppe Gilera. In 1969 the company was purchased by Piaggio, which now holds six marques and is the world's fourth largest motorcycle manufacturer.-History:...
with an average speed of 100.88 mi/h. In 1954, Geoff Duke
Geoff Duke
Geoffrey Ernest Duke OBE is a British multi-time motorcycle Grand Prix road racing world champion.Geoff Duke dominated motorcycle racing in the 1950s, winning six world championships and six Isle of Man TT races...
of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
reached 106.06 mi/h. The circuit remained unchanged until 1955, when a whole new circuit was built close to the site of the original, but less than a third of the length and much more like a modern road racing circuit.
The circuit was fundamentally redesigned again in 2006, becoming the so-called A-Style Assen TT Circuit. All alterations aside, only one section of the circuit is original; the finish line never moved.
On September 21, 2009 it was announced that a new chicane will be added, after a request from the A1GP organization, however A1GP was unable to start the 2009-'10 season and as a substitute the Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula
Superleague Formula is an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs. It goes by the saying 'The Beautiful Race: Football at 300 km/h'. By 2011 the link with...
replaced A1GP.
Current racetrack
The current Assen race track was built in 1955, and initially had a length of 7705 metres (4.788 mi). The current track has a length of 4555 metres (2.83 mi) with the mixture of super fast flat-out and slow corners. The longest straight is 560 metre (0.347968732523892 mi). The curves in AssenAssen
Assen is a municipality and a city in the north eastern Netherlands, capital of the province of Drenthe. It received city rights in 1809. Assen's main claim to fame is the TT Circuit Assen the motorcycle racing circuit, where on the last Saturday in June the Dutch TT is run...
were traditionally banked and the surface is extremely grippy, so the riders were able to drive much faster on the course than other circuits. Today these sloped or curved bends have been modified due to safety issues.