They came in their thousands, 82,000 to be precise, and they went home thoroughly entertained after a superb exhibition of top-class riding in round nine of the World Superbike Champion-ship held at Brands Hatch on Sunday.

Marshalls had plenty of work to get the track in tip-top shape, moving vast amounts of water following Saturday's thunderstorms, but racing was only slightly delayed.

When it did start, the crowd went into a frenzy every time any of the British riders, including Carl Fogarty and Jamie Whitham, made a big charge.

In race one, championship leader Troy Corser used his pole position to take an early lead.

But, by lap five he had been passed by Colin Edwards, who went on to beat his Honda team-mate, Aaron Slight. Fog-arty was the best of the Brits, roaring through from ninth on the grid to take an excellent fourth place just ahead of Whitham.

In the second race Corser again set the pace and, on this occasion, managed to build a big lead.

By lap five Fogarty had moved ahead of Edwards and was then joined by Whitham, although the pair only had a rear view of Corser, the runaway leader .

The British pair then treated the ecstatic fans to a titanic duel over the remaining 20 laps and began to close on Corser.

But, the Australian held on for a well-earned victory.

The celebrations which followed would have given you the impression one of the British riders had won.

Hundreds of fans spilled on to the track to show their appreciation of the day's great racing as some of the top riders were conveyed in a car on a lap of honour.

Fogarty and Japanese rider Noryuki Haga threw their crash helmets into the crowd and then Fogarty did likewise with his gloves and boots as the procession went by the main grandstand to deafening applause.

Over the years Brands Hatch has been the scene of many great moments. Few, I suspect, as memorable as this.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.