The Racing Line at TT Circuit Assen

Dubbed "The Cathedral" of motorcycling, TT Circuit Assen is home to the Dutch TT, which is the longest running event on the MotoGP calendar. World Superbike also competes at the circuit, along with a sprinkling of other events throughout the year.

Despite its legendary status, Assen is actually a fairly tight circuit, with 20 turns packed into a length of about 2.8 miles. The racing line has a couple has a couple surprises, with Al's approach different significantly from convention in a couple areas.

After braking down from the back straight, the main idea in Turns 1 and 2 is to utilize a flowing line that goes from the left edge of the track following Turn 1, to the apex at Turn 2, to the left edge again before entering Turn 3. Only the Miata straightens the steering between 1 and 2 - the other vehicles should carry a continuous rightward lateral load from Turn 1 to Turn 5.

How far out you go between Turns 3 and 4 is mostly a matter of preference, as the lines are fairly interchangeable. Entering Turn 5, Al has every vehicle driving straight from the apex at 4 to the first of two apexes in Turn 5. This is in direct opposition to the established approach, which is to keep farther to the right while exiting Turn 4 and swing in for a single late apex at Turn 5. Despite the definite prevalence of that approach, it is virtually guaranteed to be slower than the optimized line. If you happen to be behind anyone taking the wide line, by using Al's approach you can virtually pass at will. If you get a good drive out of the corner, unless they draft you there's no reason they'll pass you back on the straight.

Exiting Turn 5, only the Miata ends up using the full width of the track. High power vehicles benefit more from straightening out early and getting on the gas harder. The difference in a wide or not-wide exit, however, is only a couple hundredths of a second.

Keep up the speed at Turn 8, such that you're carried all the way to the left and can smoothly transition into Turn 9. Exiting 9, Al recommends staying left of mid-track in order to have the best approach into Turn 10. Turn 11 is the opposite, where you should exit all the way to the right and only the Miata comes back past half track berfore turning into Turn 12.

Skipping ahead to Turn 15, this is where you begin the setup for Ramshoek. Don't hit the apex at Turn 16, or the right edge of the track prior to Turn 17 (except for the Miata). The chicane, Geert Timmer Bocht, is the final opportunity for brave overtakes before returning to the start/finish line. All vehicles can be at high or full throttle from the apex of 18 through the end of the back straight.