On the weekend of the TT Assen, Other Times Sport (NOS/NTR) goes back to the 1970s, the heyday of Dutch motorcycle racing.
Photo: Koen Suyk – National Archives
In 1977, Wil Hartog wrote history by becoming the first Dutchman to win a Grand Prix in the premier class of motorcycle racing, the 500cc.
The ‘Witte Reus’ is the first to cross the finish line on the soaking wet TT circuit of Assen in front of more than a hundred thousand spectators. A folk festival erupts.
That victory started a series of international successes, in which ‘Jumping’ Jack Middelburg and Boet van Dulmen would also win races.
Still, it was a hair’s throw or the terminally ill Hartog would not even have started in ’77.
A story about bloody street racing, espionage in garbage cans and an unexpected and impossible victory.
Other Times Sport is the sports history program of NOS and NTR. The broadcast is Sunday evening 22:20 on NPO 1.
– Thanks for information from Motorfreaks.