The history of the 'Cathedral of Speed' dates back to almost 100 years ago. The letters 'TT' stand for 'Tourist Trophy' and are derived from the famous TT races at the Isle of Man. The initial race course ran across public roads and parts of the track remained public roads up until 1992. It is the only racetrack in the world where motorcycle world championship races have been held annually since the establishment of the FIM motorcycle roadrace world championship in 1949. Since 1992 Assen has been home to the FIM World Superbike championship as well.

In 2007 it hosted the Champcar World Series, followed by events in Superleague Formula and DTM. From 2015 to 2020 the venue hosted the FIM MXGP Motocross World championship culminating in the FIM Motocross of Nations in 2019.