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Formula 1 officials will visit Assen to inspect its track in the next few weeks, following the latest rounds of talks about the Dutch Grand Prix returning to the calendar.
Lee van Dam, CEO of the Dutch GP foundation that is tasked with putting a race together, met with Liberty bosses at Hockenheim last weekend to discuss progress.
“We had a good meeting,” van Dam told Autosport.
“It was all very positive. In two or three weeks’ time they will come to Assen to take a look at the track.”
FOM’s official visit to Assen – which hosts MotoGP’s Dutch TT – will also involve an inspection of the circuit’s facilities, and comes after F1 race director Charlie Whiting gave his approval on behalf of the FIA earlier this year.
Whiting said that the circuit was good enough to host an F1 race with only a few minor modifications.
“Whiting visited the TT Circuit on behalf of the FIA, and now FOM is going to look whether Assen can be a suitable place for Formula 1,” said van Dam.
“They will soon send their technical people, who will take a look at the whole picture – the track and the facilities.”
Van dam believes FOM being is prepared to visit Assen is a good sign for a future Dutch GP at the venue.
The last Dutch Grand Prix was held in 1985 at Zandvoort, and the race was won by Niki Lauda ahead of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna.
“We don’t have any certainty, but if they don’t see something in the whole thing, they wouldn’t bother to come over,” van Dam explained.
“They also could have said to us, ‘We don’t see it happening in the Netherlands and we don’t see it happening in Assen’. But that wasn’t the case.
“Now we hope to be able to take the next step, of course. Hopefully it works out. We are feeling good about it.
“They already sent a couple of people to the Dutch TT to have a look.
They were very positive about the track.”
The Dutch Grand Prix Foundation hopes the first F1 race at Assen can take place in 2020 or ’21.