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The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship will once again travel to the Netherlands to the TT Assen Circuit’s ‘Cathedral of Speed’ for the third Round of the WorldSBK season. One of the most historic venues in not just WorldSBK, but motorsport as a whole, the track has been hosting WorldSBK races since 1992. Two-time WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) spoke about the track which has brought him so much success, laying out his favourite parts of the track and best moments racing on it.

ASSEN’S HISTORY: 68 races and unpredictable action

The historic track has hosted the second most races of all time in the Championship; a sum of 68 races over the 37 seasons of WorldSBK action prior to the grid’s trip there this weekend. That tally is only five races short of the highest raced WorldSBK track, Phillip Island with 73. Despite Bautista’s dominance at Assen over the last few seasons and Toprak Razgatlioglu‘s (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) Race 2 win here in 2024, the track has been very amenable to British riders over the years; having won 38 out of Assen’s 68 WorldSBK races.

GET TO KNOW THE ‘CATHEDRAL OF SPEED’: key sectors of ‘The Cathedral’

Starting out a lap at Assen is the ‘Northern Loop’ a section of track which has been modified greatly over the years to not only make the track safer but to facilitate upgrades to the facility, resulting in a slower and tighter section from Turn 1 to Turn 4, allowing for overtakes galore. The Turn 5 ‘De Strubben’ corner sees riders drop down to around 75km/h, before allowing riders to open up the throttle in the subsequent ‘Veenslang’ straight, the fastest on the track, allowing riders to get up to speeds of around 275 km/h. The right-handed ‘Ruskenhoek’ Turn 6 and Turn 7 maintain a lot of speed before braking into the ‘Stekkenwal’ Turn 8, letting riders stretch the legs of their bikes before the slower Turns 9-11. The ‘De Bult’ Turn 9 forces riders back into second gear, creating another overtake zone to watch through the southern loop of turns 10 and 11. As Riders exit Turn 11 and the gradual Turn 12, they can go back on the gas hard, up to sixth gear before the ‘Ramshoek’ T15.

HOW TO MASTER THE CHALLENGE: Bautista explains his tricks of the trade

Bautista has thrived at the Dutch track since joining the Championship in 2019. In that time, the Spanish two-time champion has won half of the races he has competed in at Assen – 7 for 14 – Only ‘King’ Carl Fogarty and Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha) have more than him. The Dutch circuit is one which seems to always smile on Bautista as his total podium count here is 11, tied for the most of any track with Aragon, Portimao and Philip Island.

Discussing his preferred part of the track, the #19 stated: “My favourite part is the last sector, specifically the last chicane and the long lefthand Turn 15 corner before. You arrive very fast, and you have to take the bike around the corner with a lot of speed; the last chicane as well is a really hot place for overtakes, we’ve seen in the past lots of races decided in that last chicane.”

The Turn 16-18 ‘Geert Timmer Chicane’ referred to by the two-time World Champion has hosted many iconic moments in racing history, its positioning as the last corner before the run to the finish line has meant that many a desperate rider has tried their hand at a desperate final overtake in front of the main grandstand full of fans.

“Many people said, ‘Alvaro can’t win because it is a very old track style’ and I won both races” – Bautista on his favourite moment at the TT Assen Circuit

Bautista has had many highlights in his distinguished WorldSBK career, however for him, Assen will always hold special significance to him. While we know he would go on to win back-to-back WorldSBK Championships in 2022 and 2023, hat tricks and break lap records aplenty; when asked, the moment that most stuck out to him from Assen was his rookie season double back in 2019.

“I’ve fortunately had many good moments there, but for sure in WorldSBK one of my best moments was in my first year in 2019,” said the Ducati star. “It was really difficult conditions, it was snowing on Saturday, but we were able to do the two long races on Saturday and I was able to win both, so it was a special moment. It was special because I remember many people saying ‘ahh, Alvaro can’t win because this is a very old track style’ and I won both races, so for me, considering it was in my first year, it was one of my best moments.”

Tune in and see Bautista and the rest of the grid take on Assen either live or on demand this weekend using the WorldSBK VideoPass!