After the bonkers fun we had a Mugello we decided to tick another MotoGP race off the bucket list: Assen.
We arrived at the circuit Saturday evening and drove around the many roads closures and one way roads trying to find a campsite. Unlike Mugello where every farmer for miles around was opening their fields to make a quick Euro, campsites around Assen were rarer and much more expensive. Finally we found one a little way out from the circuit and more reasonably priced, so we parked up for the night.
The next morning we hopped on the Bromptons and joined thousands of motorbikes, cyclists and pedestrians on the road to the circuit. Very few cars though. We locked up the Bromptons with the seemingly endless number of other bikes and queued to get in the circuit. Security bag checks were so slow that it took us an hour to get in meaning we missing free practice 4 despite getting up early to see it!
Assen is a small and tight circuit surrounded by very steep viewing banks. We managed to find a spot to watch Moto3 and enjoyed John McPhee finishing 5th from starting 18th on the grid!
We then had a wander to explore but despite it’s compact size, it was a difficult circuit to walk around and you cannot see any of the track as the banks obscure the view. We soon realised that we needed to bag a spot to watch the main race else we’d miss out.
We found a spot on one of the spectator areas that was only steep enough that we had to shuffle back up again every 30 seconds and watched the race. Yet again Valentino Rossi fell off early in the race, but it was encouraging to see his team mate take the win.
After the race we cycled back again along with hundreds of motorbikes. It was scary and exciting to be riding with so many loud sports bikes often riding two abreast and no going much faster than us on our pedal bikes! After getting back safely back at The Van we retrieved our 50 Euro deposit! that I was not happy about giving, although one of the presenters from BT Sport did comment that he had seen caravans on fire after the race so I can kind of understand why… we joined the procession of bikes away from the circuit. We were most amused to see that the locals get out the deckchairs and snacks and watch the parade of motorbikes going past. Essentially they are watching a traffic jam!
It was only a short drive to a more peaceful location for the evening.