These results reflect the record holders, qualifiers, and eliminations contestants at each of the
Doc’s Harley-Davidson Street Bike Shootout Series events held each Wednesday at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
All motorcycles compete utilizing street equipment including Department of Transportation (D.O.T.) approved tires without wheelie bars. All other modifications are permitted. Wednesday SBSS Track Records can be set during official qualifying or championship rounds. The Official Street Bike Shootout “suicide qualifying” period, (one qualifying run only), begins at 7:30 PM, (barring unforeseen circumstances). At 8:00 PM, the four quickest qualifiers meet in no-handicap eliminations with the championship final round held at 8:30 PM.
GATEWAY INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, MADISON, ILLINOIS
2008 DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES TRACK RECORDS
Class Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
SBSS Eric Sanzottera, St. Peters, MO 03 GSX1100 Suzuki 8.131 04/18/2007
SBSS Eric Sanzottera, St. Peters, MO 03 GSX1100 Suzuki 181.72 05/08/2007
JULY 23rd, 2008 DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 13 07/23/2008
1 Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX1100 1100 Suz 8.214 169.72
2 Amir Brandy St. Louis MO 05 Hayabusa 1300 Suz 8.413 171.64
3 Shawn Ingram Robertsville MO 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw 8.770 161.23
4 Rickey Johns St. Louis MO 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw 8.898 158.56
JULY 23rd, 2008 DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES ELIMINATIONS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle R.T. ET MPH
Round One:
W Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX1100 -0.040 8.456 171.51
RU Rickey Johns St. Louis MO 06 ZX1400 -0.309 (foul) 11.038 86.79
W Amir Brandy St. Louis MO 05 Hayabusa 0.023 8.621 151.97
RU Shawn Ingram Robertsville MO 06 ZX1400 0.072 9.909 116.95
Final Round:
W Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX1100 0.002 8.230 166.09
RU Amir Brandy St. Louis MO 05 Hayabusa 0.071 8.667 135.71
While the streamroller known as QuickTime Motorsports once again flattened the opposition, the competition continues to become quicker, faster, and closer than ever in the 2008 Doc’s Harley-Davidson Street Bike Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Eric Sanzottera, the reigning SBSS season champion, scored his twelfth career title aboard the QuickTime Suzuki GSX1100 in a rematch of the scheduled July 9th final round but rival Amir “St. Louis Red” Brandy made the battle one of the closest in SBSS history!
In itself, the event was a record-breaker. For the first time in the twenty-nine race history of the series, the July 23rd battle featured all four qualifiers in the eight-second zone. Doc’s HD Street Bike Shootout programs feature “suicide qualifying”, (only one attempt to make the field for all entries), and, although twenty-four machines made the call for that solitary session, seldom do the quickest machines perform under the pressure of only one shot to make the “Quick Four”.
Sanzottera used the early timed trial session to produce an 8.30/169.57 best which bade well for the SBSS Record Holder. Said crew chief Rudy Sanzottera, “On the first run, we had way too much power but we backed it down way too much for the second run. In the qualifying round, we’re going to give a little more back to the bike”. True to his word, Rudy found a happy median and Eric streaked to the quickest run of the 2008 SBSS season, an 8.21/169.72, to secure his seventeenth career pole.
The biggest shock of the qualifying session, however, came from veteran Amir Brandy, whose 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa improved more than three tenths of a second from its quickest effort of the season to a career-best 8.41 at a whopping 171.64 miles per hour! “The power was always there”, said an obviously satisfied Brandy after the run, “but it was just a matter of getting the nitrous system perfect. It was so close so many times but that time, finally, everything was perfect”. Brandy, who gained national fame almost a decade ago for piloting one of the first Hayabusa street bikes over 175 mph, has concentrated on elapsed time with his current machine and, having installed a new power plant only hours before the event, was more than pleased. “I built this motor small; it’s less than 1450 ccs with no stroke at all. It’s got a lot of power in a very narrow range”, said “Red”.
All four qualifiers were past SBSS event winners with each elimination bout pairing a Kawasaki against a Suzuki. Sazottera got a break when Rick Johns fouled on his black Kawasaki ZX1400 but the Suzuki still posted an 8.45 at 171.51 mph. Brandy was able to back off the throttle to an 8.62 at only 151.97 mph when Shawn Ingram’s ZX1400 stumbled at halftrack.
In the championship battle, Sanzottera knew he was facing his first serious threat of the season and planned accordingly. While Brandy launched with a great 0.071-second Reaction Time, Sazottera nailed the ‘Tree with the third-best RT in series history, a brutal 0.002, and charged to an 8.23/166.09. Brandy, running within two hundredths of his 8.41 qualifying pace at the eighth-mile, shut down when the outcome was no longer in doubt to a coasting 8.66/135.71.
“I think we’re on to something”, said a smiling Sanzottera during the winner’s circle trophy presentation. “An 8.23 even though the bike ‘nosed over’ at a thousand feet isn’t too bad! With four bikes in the eights, though, this isn’t going to get any easier. We really need to stay ahead of these guys and, the way it’s going, that might take a seven-second run!”.
DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (as of JULY 24th, 2008)
Pos Points Name
1 (20) Eric Sanzottera
2 (14) Shawn Ingram
3 (9) Amir Brandy
4 (5) Josh McDaniel
5 (2) Janie Palm
6 (2) Jesse Gatlin
7 (2) Don Klarer
8 (1) Kevin Ellison
9 (1) Ethan Humbert
10 (1) Greg Cave
11 (1) Charles Willis
12 (1) Evan Holland
13 (1) Joe Jordan
14 (1) Rickey Johns
NOTE: Points toward the 2008 Doc’s Street Bike Shootout Series Season Championship are awarded on the basis of one (1) point for qualifying in the Final Four field with one (1) bonus point awarded for winning the first round of eliminations and one (1) bonus point awarded for winning the final round of eliminations. Ties are broken by (1) the earliest date upon which the final point total is earned, (2) quickest elapsed time recorded during the current SBSS season and (3) fastest speed recorded during the current SBSS season.
Photos of the July 23rd Street Bike Shootout Series event are now available for viewing at Bret Kepner Photos.com.
Eric Sanzottera, St. Peters, MO 2003 Suzuki GSX1100R
Eric Sanzottera (center) and team
Amir Brandy, St. Louis, MO 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa
Amir Brandy, (right), and team