The Ducati Team have put the results of the Barcelona race behind them and have now arrived in the Netherlands for the eighth round of the 2016 MotoGP World Championship, held this weekend at the ‘Cathedral of Speed’, the Assen TT Circuit. The Dutch race continues to be the oldest one on the calendar (the first edition was in fact held in 1949), but this year it will take place for the first time ever on a Sunday, thus radically breaking with the tradition of being run on Saturday. The track has undergone a series of alterations and modifications over the years, but what has remained unchanged is the incredible number of spectators who pack the grandstands and grassy banks of Assen every year.

Andrea Dovizioso, who this weekend will remarkably notch up his 150th start in the premier category, does not see Assen as one of his favourite tracks, but he has stepped onto the podium three times in MotoGP with two thirds in 2011 and 2012 and a runner-up slot in 2014. Last year’s race was rather an unfortunate one, as he reached fifth place but was then slowed by a strange vibration in his GP15 machine and had to settle for an overall twelfth place.

Things were a bit different for Andrea Iannone, who really likes the Dutch circuit. The rider from Vasto scored a good result in the 2015 race, starting from row 2 and moving up into fourth, a position he held until the chequered flag.

The Assen TT weekend programme will start on Friday morning with the first free practice session at 9.55am, while the 26-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 2pm.

资料提供 [ Ducati Japan ]