The TT of Assen is the beating heart of Dutch motorsport, but it’s icons like Bertus van Hamersveld who have given this event a soul. In the special centenary magazine of the TT of Assen, grandsons Tim and Tom Coronel reflect on their grandfather’s career. “He was a true adventurer!”
The passion for racing in the Coronel family originated with their grandfather Bertus van Hamerveld, born in 1896. The streetscape looked completely different compared to now, and transportation was primarily by horse and cart. In fact, the first car in the Netherlands, the Benz Victoria, only appeared in 1896, and in England that year, the maximum speed for automobiles was raised to 25 km/h. In the following years, motorized transport accelerated, and the young Van Hamersveld was captivated by the speed, especially of the motorcycles.
Why did their grandfather want to become a motorcycle racer? “He loved speed and was a true adventurer,” says Tim Coronel. “And he was a handy fellow who could work with metal and had his own ideas about how to improve a motorcycle. And then later you suddenly get ‘Bertus on his Norton’.”
Bertus van Hamersveld: A Racing Legacy
Tim Coronel is referring to the song ‘Oerend Hard’ by the band Normaal. “Bertus was our grandfather and Tinus on the BSA was his friend. They were always racing on a grass track. What Tim and I do drifting in cars, he did on motorcycles. Of course, you become very skilled from that and that’s how he eventually rolled into motorsports,” Tom adds.
The Very First TT of Assen
Of course, Van Hamersveld was at the starting line of the first TT of Assen on July 11, 1925. The course ran over cobblestone roads between Drenthe villages and was a whopping 28.4 kilometers long. The twins’ grandfather seemed on his way to a sensational victory, but encountered bad luck. However, he did manage to clock the fastest race lap. Tom Coronel says, “I still have that medal at home. When our mother passed away, we found all kinds of stuff from him from that time. A lot of it is in the museum in Assen.”
Apart from the prizes, their mother preserved much more from their grandfather. She was a collector and had everything neatly arranged in scrapbooks. “Oh, and grandpa’s leg is still up here,” Tim Coronel exclaims. Moments later, he comes down with a metal splint in the shape of a leg that looks quite medieval.
