The historical circuit of Assen will host the eighth round of the 2016 MotoGP Championship this weekend and Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s riders Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaró arrive in Netherlands following a bittersweet race in Catalunya, where Viñales had a positive race with fourth place but Espargaró suffered some electronic issues that forced him to retire with seven laps to go.

The positive developments introduced by Suzuki’s R&D are still under evaluation, but the day of testing in Catalunya following the race gave both riders and the team the chance to gather more information and a clear direction for the upcoming race.

Suzuki’s history at the TT Circuit of Assen is a glorious one, with nine victories since 1975, and also last year’s race saw Espargaró place second in qualifying. Both Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders also finished in the top 10, with Espargaró ninth and Viñales 10th.

The circuit, known as “The Cathedral of Motorcycling,” because of its historic significance to Motorcycle World Championship racing, is the only circuit to have hosted a race every year since its creation in 1949. Assen is quite a technical track, very narrow and it has several rapid changes in direction that could be favourable to the handling capabilities of the GSX-RR machines. This is feature particularly appreciated by Espargaro. With a total length of 4.555 km (2.82 miles), it has a very short straight (only 487m – 1597.77ft) and a majority of right corners: 12 versus six left-handers.