Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Reigning Endurance World Champions Zongshen Suzuki 1 are out of the Suzuka 8-Hours race.

At 3:30 race time, Zongshen Suzuki’s Stephane Mertens was exiting one of the slower corners on the course when the upper shock mount of his 2002-model GSX-R1000 broke, collapsing the rear end of the motorcycle. Mertens did not crash and rode the bike back to the pits, but the team decided to withdraw from the race.

According to the team, the frame, which they have been racing on for the last two seasons, has never been crashed.

Zongshen Suzuki’s retirement promotes Corona Light TiForce (Jordan Szoke/Paul Young) into the lead of the Super-production class with a little over four hours remaining in the race.

Szoke said the track is really slippery because it is hotter than it has been and “there’s oil in every corner. It’s a mess out there.”