Motorcycle racing in Assen traces its origins to 1925, when the first Dutch TT was held on public country roads through the villages of Rolde, Borger, Schoonloo, and Grolloo. From 1926 the race moved to a street circuit through De Haar and surrounding areas, with a brick-and-semi-paved track measuring 28.57 km. The winner of the inaugural 1926 event was Piet van Wijngaarden on a 500 cc Norton, averaging 91.4 km/h.
The long street route was used until 1955, when the circuit was comprehensively rebuilt using approximately one third of the original roads joined with purpose-built sections, producing a considerably shorter and safer modern road-racing circuit. The new layout initially measured 7.705 km. In 1951, before the rebuild, Umberto Masetti had set a speed benchmark of 162.35 km/h on a Gilera, and by 1954 Geoff Duke had pushed that to 170.69 km/h.
Between 1999 and 2002, the circuit underwent extensive modernisation costing approximately 23 million euros. Works included a new main grandstand and hospitality buildings in 1999, a new Race Control tower and 34 pit boxes in 2000, and a major expansion of the paddock from 40,000 to 60,000 square metres completed in April 2002. These changes required modifications to the Veenslang and Ruskenhoek corners and shifted the main straight approximately 50 metres eastward. The Mandeveen and Duikersloot corners were each moved back ten metres to create larger run-off areas. The net effect was a marginal shortening of the circuit from 6.049 km to 6.027 km.
In 2006 the circuit was again fundamentally redesigned in what became known as the A-Style layout, with the northern loop removed the same year and the track length reduced to 4.555 km. The finish line is the one element that has never moved through any of the circuit's many reconfigurations. The current layout features a 560-metre main straight and a mix of high-speed and slow corners on an extremely grippy surface; the traditional banked corners have been progressively modified for safety reasons.
The circuit's primary event is the Dutch TT, a round of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing calendar that has run at Assen since the World Championship's inaugural season. Since 1992 the track has also hosted the Superbike World Championship, again with the exception of 2020. Other regular events include the Sidecar World Championship, British Superbike Championship, and various national-level championships across cars and motorcycles. The circuit has a capacity of 110,000 spectators, including 60,000 grandstand seats.
The venue has also hosted car racing series including the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters from 2019 to 2021, Champ Car, and Formula 3000, though its primary identity remains with motorcycle racing.
The fastest official race laps at Assen span multiple categories and are updated regularly as machinery and conditions evolve.
Two fatalities have occurred during official events at the current circuit: Yasutomo Nagai during the 1995 Superbike World Championship round, and Alessio Perilli during the 2004 Superstock European Championship.