From a track where one rider has stood tall above the rest for a decade, we move on to a track with a history of many and varied winners and some of the closest battles in modern day MotoGP. Last week’s race was a homecoming for a King, a divergence from the overarching plot of the 2021 season in many ways. This week, we settle back in for our regularly scheduled slugfest as the MotoGP paddock prepare to do battle in the Netherlands.
The Assen TT is perhaps one of the most famous races in MotoGP. It’s a track that has everything: long straights and tight corners, hard lean angles and bursts of speed, and one of the most famous final corners in the modern calendar. It’s a favourite among both riders and fans, and always produces some serious entertainment whenever we visit. Whatever happens come Sunday, you can be certain it will be something special.
Perhaps one of the biggest draws to a track like this is that no bike or rider will have the upper hand. This isn’t the Sachsenring, where Marc Marquez has won the last eight MotoGP races, nor is it a Ducati hunting ground like Qatar or Austria. While looking at the list of previous winners makes it seem like the circuit favours Yamahas and Hondas, the reality is that any and all manufacturers will have a shot at the win as long as they can nail their set-up. Faster sections of the circuit will favour the Ducatis and Hondas, but the twisting and turning final sector is where the Suzukis and Yamahas will shine.
We’ve seen a number of races here in the last few years that have turned into massive, almost Moto3-esque scraps for the win with upwards of ten riders all in contention. There’s no reason to believe this Sunday’s race will be any different, especially when you consider how the season has played out so far. All six manufacturers seem competitive, and there are still a number of riders who are conceivably in the fight for the championship. There’s no one rider who seems like they’ll have an edge heading into this final race before the Summer break.
Well, maybe one rider. Miguel Oliveira comes into this weekend with three podiums on the trot, having scored 65 out of a possible 75 points over the last three races. The KTM has made a huge leap forward since the start of the season and is now poised to have one or both of its factory riders take a swing at the title. Oliveira in particular looks fast, consistent and hungry, and he hasn’t really put a foot wrong since Le Mans. If anyone could be labelled a dark horse for the championship right now, it would be the Portugese rider.
His competition will be much the same as it has been in previous weeks. The Ducati trio of Bagnaia, Miller and Zarco have all remained in solid form since the start of the year, and Quartararo continues to fly the flag for Yamaha. Curiously, the biggest loser from last week was actually Quartararo’s teammate and the last winner in Assen, Vinales. The Spaniard crossed the line nineteenth and dead last in Germany, marking the first time in his career he’s finished a race outside the points, and was clearly feeling the pressure all weekend as the Yamahas fell behind the rest of the pack.
His comments post-race were scathing as he took shots at his team and manufacturer for allowing things to reach this critical point. Vinales clearly still views himself as a contender for the top spot in MotoGP, and feels that his team are unfairly prioritising the young upstart Quartararo as they chase the title. His goal for this weekend appears to be a simple one: copy Quartararo’s set-up on Friday and hope that his fortunes turn around by Sunday.
He’s not the only rider with a plan along those lines. Pol Espargaro has drawn a line in the sand after his teammate romped to victory at the Sachsenring and has declared that he wants to alter his bike setup to be identical to Marquez’s. The ex-KTM rider clearly believes he still has what it takes to master the Honda, but as we approach the halfway point in the season he doesn’t seem to have fulfilled all of the promise he showed during pre-season testing. Honda are clearly still struggling with their bike, but Pol appears to have faith that using Marc’s winning set-up as a base will help cure some of the issues he’s been having since he first swung a leg over it.
We also head into this weekend with confirmation that there will be 24 seats in the 2022 MotoGP season, as VR46 announced that they will be partnering with Ducati from next year onwards. While one seat seems almost sure to be going the way of Luca Marini, the second seat is still very much up for grabs. The current dilemma appears to be whether or not Rossi will want to race in his own team, a dilemma made far more interesting thanks to the media statement from the Prince in charge of the Saudi-based company Aramco, who are funding the VR46 MotoGP project. If Rossi chooses to step down instead, the it’s safe to assume the seat will instead go to Marco Bezzechi.
All told, that leaves us with four seats still up in the air, one each for Aprilia, VR46, Tech3 and Petronas. There’s a lot of murmuring about which Moto2 riders might be stepping up to fill these slots, and there’s the ongoing question of how the ousted Andrea Dovizioso fits into the puzzle. Hopefully it will all come together between the conclusion of the Assen race and the season’s return in August, so as to not further distract from the racing itself. For the time being, we can look forward to what will no doubt be another engaging showdown at the Cathedral of Assen.
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