ONLY the Dutch national football team has ever attracted such a huge orange following.

But while the likes of Patrick Kluivert rely on 10 other team-mates to drum up such colourful support, the tens of thousands of British bike fans at Brands Hatch were there to see just one man.

And, adopting the colours of his GSE Racing team en masse, they did Neil Hodgson proud.

In return, the 27-year-old Burnley rider turned in another gritty and stylish display, finishing second in both races behind on-fire Ben Bostrom, that did himself proud.

Hodgson actually won the restarted mini-race following a bad crash in race one, from which both riders emerged unscathed.

But Bostrom held a 1.6second advantage from the initial start and won the aggregated race.

And Hodgson initially appeared in command of the afternoon race, until a water leak allowed Bostrom to power through for his fifth consecutive race win, the first man to achieve that feat since Carl Fogarty in 1993.

However, for a man who is now consistently expected to challenge for the race wins that proved so elusive at the start of the season, second is no longer good enough.

Hodgson said: "I made a mistake in the first leg of the first race because I'd chosen the wrong tyre. I was glad when it was stopped because it gave me a chance to switch to the right one.

"In the second leg I did everything I could to take the race victory but Bostrom was on my tail the whole time. He didn't give up.

"I kept looking at my pit board and every time it said -1.6, which meant he was right behind me.

"Then I threw everything I had at the race! With six laps to go, water started to appear on my visor and I knew that the bike was leaking water.

"The temperature of the engine shot up and I had no choice but to back off.

"It was just one of those things, but at the time I could have cried. I really wanted to win a race to show my appreciation for the unbelievable following that I have had."

And, just to prove it, Hodgson threw all his kit into the crowd and walked back to the pits sporting a natty line in Union Jack boxer shorts and socks!

Troy Bayliss finished the races in third and fourth place, the same as his rival Colin Edwards, and so maintained his 53-point advantage.

But the target for both Hodgson and Bostrom now is the second points total of 250, just 33 points ahead of the GSE Racing man.

First race result: 1 Ben Bostrom, USA (Ducati) 36m 41.759s, 2 Neil Hodgson, GB (Ducati) 36m 43.267s, 3 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 36m 50.961s, 4 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 36m 51.775s, 5 Troy Bayliss, Australia (Ducati) 36m 56.393s, 6 Ruben Xaus, Spain (Ducati) 37m 03.641s, 7 Stephane Chambon, France (Suzuki) 37m 06.005s, 8 Troy Corser, Australia (Aprilia) 37m 06.995s, 9 Sean Emmett, GB (Ducati) 37m 07.569s, 10 Akira Yanagawa, Japan

(Kawasaki) 37m 08.311s. 12 Tady Okada, Japan (Castrol Honda) 37m 25.729s.

Second race result: 1 Bostrom 36m 28.522s, 2 Hodgson 36m 31.103s, 3 Bayliss 36m 39.429s, 4 Chili 36m 39.464s, 5 Edwards 36m 40.007s, 6 James Toseland, GB (Ducati) 36m 45.756s, 7 John Reynolds, GB (Ducati) 36m 45.758s, 8 Yanagawa 36m 52.442s, 9 Chambon 36m 52.691, 10 Emmett 36m 57.854s.

World Superbike championship points after 10 of 13 rounds: 1 Bayliss 303, 2 Edwards 250, 3 Bostrom 247, 4 Corser 226, 5 Hodgson 217, 6 Chili 179, 7 Yanagawa 132, 8 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 122, 9 Tady Okada, Japan (Castrol Honda) 118, 10 Xaus 106.