Schwantz's ten-year record to tumble?

This year's Dutch Grand Prix at Assen will be the final chance for the current crop of MotoGP stars to end Kevin Schwantz's ten-year reign as lap record holder before modifications slow lap times around the legendary circuit.

That lap record - a stunning 2min 02.443secs - remains the longest-standing in GP racing, and was set by the American on a Suzuki in 1991, as he held off Mick Doohan in a race-long battle (they finished less than a second apart).

Over the next eight years, not even five times champion Doohan has been able to beat that blistering lap, though Tady Okada came within a couple of hundredths of a second, with next-fastest Kenny Roberts only a couple of tenths slower.

In fact, the time has been beaten ..... a handful of riders have gone faster in practice, but it is race laps that count as the lap record.

One reason, according to rider Kenny Roberts, is that the surface has never been in better condition than back in 1991, when the 3.8-mile circuit had just been fully resurfaced and some sections widened. "Each year it gets bumpier and the Tarmac gets that bit more worn."