TT Circuit Assen

And Bulega nearly beat him last year.

I- if he hadn't had two breakdowns in Assen, then he, and nothing else changed, which is obviously what-ifs, but he would've been champion, not Toprak.

So-

That was one of the things Petrucci spoke about as well, wasn't it, Gordo?

race wins yeah

it's a strange sort of convoluted system isn't it with the point schemes after Cadwell but the main season will be over and the showdown starts at Assen on I think it's 18th and 20th of September

does seem a bit odd to say the next round of BSB after Cadwell is in Holland because obviously it's the British Seahawks but I think it actually works quite well going to Assen shakes it up a bit I think it's Assen's pretty accessible for UK guys obviously we have to leave leave the island, get to the European mainland, but I think it's relatively easy to get to.

Yeah,

it's not a bad journey at all.

Yeah, and then obviously the race in the next MotoGP will be San Marino.

That's 11th to the 13th of September.

And then British Superbike, we've got Assen coming up.

So there will come races where he will have one or two other Silverstones, but he will also have races coming to watch him.

I don't see any Silverstones or Assens in the line.

We've got...

Mizano, Red Bull Ring, Motegi, Mandalika, Phillip Island, Saban, Qatar, maybe, Portimao and Valencia.

And of course I see, you know, like Hurling's at his, absolute best was also great.

I mean, I always think, like, people should visit more different kinds of racing, you know, which is why I loved going to Superbikes earlier at Assen.

I loved going to MXGP, especially as, you know, as you said, I could cycle across, which was also lovely.

But, yeah, it gives you so much more sort of like – it allows you to take a step back from your own sport and see, see a different side of, of, uh, of, you know, of your own discipline of the, the, the way that racing works in other paddocks and sort of inspiration.

Being half Dutch myself, there are real mixed emotions looking back on the week's events.

On one hand, Verstappen's contract extension means that the nation will get to keep enjoying and celebrating arguably their greatest sportsman for years to come, will remain one of Formula One's most passionate fan bases, and can hold out some hope of a Dutch Grand Prix returning in the future, whether that be at Zandvoort, the iconic Assen Circuit, or as a street race through one of its cities.

However, it's hard to see even Verstappen's presence bringing the race back, given that it sold out every year and still didn't have enough funding to be financially viable, being a completely private event with no government support.

That's just made all the more painful by the fact that he's sticking around.

What makes MotoGP so good is the racing and the excitement, and you don't know who's going to win.

The great tracks that make the great racing, we've spoken about them, the Brunos, Magellos, Assens, Silverstone, Phillip Island.

They're the old school circuits.

They're not those modern ones that have been designed on a computer that say this is going to happen at this speed and all that.

It is, in fact, Iagura.

Only very, very narrowly ahead of Martin was top of the rankings for Bernot, which I did, and Assen, which I didn't do.

So, Matt, this is partially, again, this is partially your doing.

So, Matt, why is Iagura fifth in the rankings ahead of Jorge Martin? Because you are the difference, literally, mathematically.

So, go for it.

I mean, he won in Assen, which Jorge Martin didn't do.

Yeah, I'm really impressed by Ayagura.

And OK, there's the age thing is a thing we can argue.

Um, I'd done an interview, uh, with, uh, Laura and Jorge, who you know, uh, which were our bosses, you know.

Um, it, it was the Mick Doohan and myself talking through the qualifying in Assen and my win, and he would've done some other stuff as well.

Um, he had a lot more to talk about.

[laughs] Um, and apparently I did the interview in one go, one take, and they put my name on a list to ask next time they needed someone.