Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Zongshen Suzuki 1, the defending Endurance World Champions and current Championship points leaders, are out of the Oschersleben 24-hour race in Germany following a crash in the fourth hour.

According to a report appearing on the official website of the FIM Endurance World Championship, Zongshen Suzuki 1’s Igor Jerman fell off at Hotel Bend and suffered fractures to a wrist and several ribs. The report, however, did not explain exactly why Zongshen Suzuki 1 was unable to continue in the race.

Zongshen Suzuki 1 currently leads the Endurance World Championship standings with 116 points, 17 more than Suzuki GB Phase One, 51 more than Zongshen Suzuki 2 and 57 points more than both GMT94 and Police Nationale.

Fifty points, double the normal amount of 25, will be awarded to the winner of the Oschersleben 24-hour.

After seven hours, Zongshen Suzuki 2 continues to hold the overall race lead by 30 seconds over Suzuki GB Phase One.

If Zongshen Suzuki 1 is truly out of the race and assuming second place earns 40 points (double the normal of 20), Suzuki GB Phase One can win the 2003 Endurance World Championship if it wins the race. And if Phase One finishes second to Zongshen Suzuki 2 at Oschersleben, Suzuki GB Phase One can clinch the World Championship by finishing 13th or better in the final round of the series, a 200-mile race October 5 at Vallelunga, Italy. But there is a lot of time left in the current race in Germany.

Back in the field, GMT94, one of the victims of an oil-caused pile-up on the second-lap, has worked its way back up to third but has not made any dent into the four-lap advantage enjoyed by the two leading teams.

Americans Jason Pridmore and Josh Hayes are riding for Phase One at Oschersleben.



More, from a press release issued by FGSport, organizer of the series:

Suzuki Zongshen 2 Lead Oschersleben 24 Hour Race,
Zongshen 1 Crash Out to Leave Championship Wide Open

Five of the leading teams crashed out at the start of the second lap of the Oschersleben 24 Hour round of the World Endurance Championship. Suzuki Zongshen 1, Yamaha GMT94, Suzuki Police Nationale 22, Yamaha Endurance Moto 38 and Yamaha Austria 9 all fell on oil at the Hasseroder bend. No riders were injured, but all five bikes had to return to the pits for repairs and the pace car was sent out while the track was cleaned.

Zongshen 1 was one of the last bikes to rejoin the race, losing four laps on the leaders.
Suzuki Zongshen rider Warwick Nowland: “There was oil on the corner; from the racing line out to the edge. I didn’t see it on the warm-up laps, and we were going a bit slow on the first lap – so the first fast lap was lap two, and that’s when we crashed.”

Suzuki GB Phase One’s Jason Pridmore survived the incident: “I just try to be really mellow on the first couple of laps. I saw someone go down, so I backed off and tightened my line – people kept on crashing. There’s a lot of traffic out there, and it’s in bunches of four or five; hard to pass.”

Police Nationale were doubly unlucky; after crashing and then rejoining the race, Gwen Giabbani was forced to push the bike in ten minutes later with an electrical fault. Adding insult to injury, several of the crashers were given a stop-go penalty for cutting out a section of the track as they limped back to the pits.

After the first hour of racing and just before the first round of pit stops, Suzuki Zongshen 2’s Piergiorgio Bontempi was less than a minute ahead of Suzuki GB Phase One’s Jason Pridmore; these two were the only bikes from the leading pack to escape the carnage. Also benefiting from the incident were Kawasaki Bolliger Team and Suzuki Bridgestone Bikers Profi, swapping third and fourth place in an epic battle between these two endurance experts. For all of the teams, the race in pitlane is as important as the one on the track; with around 24 or 25 stops to be made during the race a few extra seconds at every stop can make a lot of difference.

With three hours gone, Suzuki Zongshen 1 had climbed back up to 19th place but were still five laps behind first place. All the hard work would be in vain, however; Igor Jerman crashed out at Hotel Bend and was unable to continue the race; this is the second race in a row which the 2002 World Endurance Champions have not finished.

With Zongshen 2 and Phase One three laps clear of third place, the championship chase is now wide open. GMT94 have climbed back up to sixth place but are still four laps behind the leading pair; although they may not catch Zongshen 2 or Suzuki GB Phase One, they are in with a good chance of a podium finish. Last year’s Oschersleben winners, Endurance Moto 38 are currently holding third place, but GMT are lapping consistently faster.