THERE are 3.76 miles of racing track and a few corners of a Dutch field that will be forever England.

"There must have been 80,000 here. It's incredible. There aren't that many people go to watch England play abroad at football," said an overwhelmed Carl Fogarty after his stunning double victory.

Not since the D-Day landings has Britain crossed the Channel in greater force and with such enthusiasm.

And a huge portion of that travelling Foggy Army is expected to turn right at Assen and head for Hockenheim next weekend.

Fogarty was only a couple of thousand out as the official attendance was recorded at a record 78,000 - of which around 40,000 were thought to be British.

The Assen track in northern Holland was one giant Cross of St George as Fogarty placed one hand, four fingers and an oily chewed fingernail on his fourth World Superbike trophy.

Fogarty now leads the championship by 71 points, with just the rounds in Germany and Japan in October remaining and 100 points up for grabs.

A win in race one next weekend would seal that fourth title but, realistically, Fogarty only has to stay upright in both races to prevent the title race dragging on until Sugo. And there will not be a rider in the paddock after yesterday's awesome display who would bet against Fogarty clinching victory in style after he wasted the rest of the field in both races to stretch his lead by 10 points.

So spare a thought for Fogarty's team-mate Troy Corser. The Aussie former world champ is a class act, demonstrated by an incredible Superpole lap on Saturday which was six tenths of a second quicker than Fogarty, so clinching a record number of pole positions.

The Ducati man consistently clocked faster top speeds than Fogarty around the sun-drench twisty track.

There were no team orders for Corser to protect Fogarty's championship lead of 61 points going into round 11 and, although the choice of tyre was different with Fogarty on a softer compound, the bikes were almost identical.

Yet Corser was marmalised.

Only on the opening few laps of the second race was Corser able to hold Fogarty at bay for any significant length of time.

The Australian and Frankie Chili enjoyed better starts as Fogarty slipped from second on the grid to third but the Italian was soon brushed aside dismissively.

And, as soon as Fogarty eased past Corser on the sixth lap, the 25 points were in the bag.

The Blackburn Bullet stretched a comfortable seven second cushion and wheelied over the finish line to prompt a track invasion, many of the fans wearing Michaela-style Union Jack dresses, and a typical outpouring of raw emotion from their hero.

He said: "I don't think words can describe it. We didn't get the results at Brands Hatch so this has made up for that. "The tyres were always going to be a gamble but we got it right. Thanks to Michelin we got it right this time.

"The plan was to keep demoralising the other guys and keep banging those quick laps in. The way I can ride best round here is to have a clear track.

"The rear tyre was chattering a little bit towards the end of the first race because this circuit is so demanding. I also had a bit of trouble with my left arm pumping up."

Race one ended as an almost carbon copy of the first battle. That time, however, Fogarty briefly trailed Akira Yanagawa for a handful of turns before disappearing, never to be seen again by the chasing pack.

And he set a new lap record on lap six with a time of two minutes 3.914 seconds, more than half a second better than Chili's previous best.

The day's two wins took Michelin's total number of voctories to 200.

Castrol Honda pair Colin Edwards and Aaron Slight could only fight it out for the minor placings as their quicker but more sluggish bikes failed to weave through the numerous corners as effectively as the nippier Ducatis.

Slight managed to secure two third places but the meeting saw the end of the challenge of Edwards.

And the tone of Corser seemed to indicate that he, too, has given up the ghost.

He said: "Carl was about a tenth or two tenths quicker every lap. He likes the track and he is very fast here.

"We still have four races to go, so anything is possible." Yeah, Troy. And it's possible that Prince Edward might one day be a successful businessman. But it ain't going to happen.

FIRST RACE: 1 Carl Fogarty, GB (Ducati) 33m 19.369s, 2 Troy Corser, Australia (Ducati) 33m 23.812s, 3 Aaron Slight, New Zealand (Castrol Honda) 33m 25.196s, 4 Pier-Francesco Chili, Italy (Suzuki) 33m 26.835s, 5 Colin Edwards, USA (Castrol Honda) 33m 32.005s, 6 Akira Yanagawa, Japan (Kawasaki) 33m 32.752s, 7 Noriyuki Haga, Japan (Yamaha) 33m 47.860s, 8 Andy Meklau, Austria (Ducati) 33m 47.860s, 9 Gregorio Lavilla, Spain (Kawasaki) 33m 48.453s, 10 Chris Walker, GB (Kawasaki) 33m 48.787s.

SECOND RACE RESULT: 1 Fogarty 33m 22.315s, 2 Corser 33m 28.634s, 3 Slight 33m 36.907s, 4 Yanagawa 33m 36.960s, 5 Edwards 33m 37.086s, 6 Chili 33m 37.674s, 7 Lavilla 33m 41.173s, 8 Haga 33m 47.568s, 9 Meklau 33m 54.114s, 10 Walker 33m 56.908s.

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1 Fogarty 413, 2 Corser 342, 3 Edwards 323, 4 Slight 284, 5 Yanagawa 238, 6 Chili 208, 7 Haga 161, 8 Lavilla 136, 9 Fujiwara 104, 10 Guareschi 89. Manufacturers points: 1 Ducati 493, 2 Honda 402, 3 Kawasaki 275, 4 Suzuki 240, 5 Yamaha 219, 6 Aprilia 76.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.