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It may no longer be a university or a cathedral, but even without professors and priests Assen still knows how to give us spectacular races. The weather played its part, but the rest came down to the Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP men themselves.
Let's start with the youngest, who clearly grew up in Holland, before moving on to Nakagami and his battle cry that terrorised the west and finishing with the crazy Australian dream that is Miller.
We also need to talk about the crashes for Rossi and Dovizioso and Petrucci's technical stop but we'll try to see the (beer) glass half full.
THE GOOD – There were 3 musketeers and 5 Italians heading the pack. Bagnaia, Di Giannantonio, Migno, Fenati and Antonelli is the group to write home about, with the addition of Bulega and Dalla Porta. Seven out of ten, not bad.
THE UGLY – The expression on the face of Danilo Petrucci, who we met in the paddock shortly after the race. The Italian loves to get his teeth into these crazy GP races so it was a pity that the alternator on his Ducati stopped him from doing so. Such bad luck.
THE BAD – Hunting season opened early and flying creatures haven't fared well. Forget about winglets in MotoGP, their agony will last until the end of the season. Goodbye wings, the only technical innovation visible to those without two engineering degrees, the only element to make the difference between seemingly identical bikes. The Italians rue their disappearance, the Japanese celebrate.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT – Slow and steady wins the race.... This was Jorge Lorenzo's motto at Assen. Usually this wouldn't work in MotoGP but there's always an exception. This doesn't take away from the fact that the Majorcan's weekend came close to being an embarrassing one.
THE CONFIRMATION – Talent and craziness? Remove the second characteristics, because Marc Marquez, the 2016 version, is wiser than an owl. He controls, he manages and he wins, even when he finishes second. The bike might not be perfect, but his riding comes close.
THE ERROR – Two of the most expert riders in the championship fell at the same hurdle and, after the rain, without having to ask them, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso sat behind the blackboard wearing the dunce's hat. There's no point getting angry.
THE SURPRISE – No-one expected to see a rider drinking champagne from his (very well used) boot. And very few expected to see Miller on the top step of the rostrum. And Redding on the lowest step. All in all, a very pleasant double surprise.
THE PASS – We thought about choosing the best of those seen during the Moto3 race but then we realised how hard it would be (and we're lazy) so we changed our minds. You choose, you can't get it wrong.
THE INTERESTING FACT – In no particular order: for 63 GPs the same names have been winning (Rossi, Marquez, Lorenzo and Pedrosa) and if we add Stoner we have to go back to 2011 to find a win by Spies in Holland; not since 1987 have there been 5 Italians leading the way (6 in that case); all the winners across the 3 classes were first-time winners (Miller's first win in MotoGP). That's all...
I TOLD YOU SO – “If it rains, we'll need a miracle”. Miller taking points from Marquez and Rossi crashing out, is that good enough Jorge?
