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
AUGUST 6th, 2008 DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES QUALIFIERS
Pos Name Hometown ST Vehicle Engine ET MPH Date
EVENT 15 08/06/2008
1 Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX1100 1100 Suz 8.392 170.95
2 Shawn Ingram Robertsville MO 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw 9.358 145.36
3 Greg Cave Jacksonville IL 02 GSXR1000 1000 Suz 9.706 138.68
4 Joe Jordan St. Louis MO 04 Hayabusa 1300 Suz 10.119 140.55
AUGUST 6th, 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 0.313 8.378 174.21
RU Joe Jordan St. Louis MO 04 Hayabusa 0.048 9.991 140.18
W Greg Cave Jacksonville IL 02 GSXR1000 0.306 9.325 146.77
RU Shawn Ingram Robertsville MO 06 ZX1400 0.303 9.551 142.36
Final Round:
W Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX1100 0.006 9.523 141.67
RU Greg Cave Jacksonville IL 02 GSXR1000 0.130 9.884 138.60
Eric Sanzottera, riding his renowned candy apple red QuickTime Motorsports 2003 Suzuki, won a record-tying fourth consecutive weekly title in the 2008 Doc’s Harley-Davidson Street Bike Shootout Series at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. Unlike any of his five previous wins this season, Sanzottera was a decided underdog when he staged against Greg Cave‘s Suzuki for the final round. In the end, the St. Peters, Missouri, rider gained substantial ground in his pursuit of a second consecutive SBSS season championship.
In one of the more bizarre events in series history, Sanzottera appeared to be the dominant rider. A early timed trial of 8.40 seconds at 169.87 mph made him the quickest motorcycle pilot on the property but the SBSS “suicide qualifying” format, (allowing all entries only one official qualifying attempt to make the field), changed the complexion of the series point battle. Twenty-two entries made official qualifying shots and Sanzottera paced the four-bike field with a solid 8.39/170.95 effort. However, the first surprise of the event came when Sanzottera’s closest performance rival, Amir randy and his 8.4-second 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa, developed engine problems on his qualifying run and failed to make the field.
Shawn Ingram, the only rider other than Sanzottera to win an SBSS event in 2008, was relegated to his secondary team Kawasaki and made the program with a 9.35/145.36. “We call this my ‘little bike’ ”, said Ingram in reference to the blue Kawasaki ZX-1400 which looks identical to the machine which has taken him to 8.70s at over 162 mph. “This one has no air shifter or nitrous oxide injection and its definitely a slower bike. We couldn’t get the ‘big bike’ together in time for this week’s race”.
In eliminations, the “little bike” proved to be unable to handle a surprising 9.32/146.77 by Greg Cave’s ‘02 Suzuki GSX-R 1000. The Jacksonville, Illinois, racer improved almost four tenths of a second from his qualifying effort to run within eighth thousandths of a second of his season best. Sanzottera unloaded an 8.37 at the second-fastest speed of the 2008 SBSS, 174.21 mph, to stop Joe Jordan’s Street Bikes Plus.com Hayabusa and, by all accounts, appeared to have yet another final-round victory in hand.
When the QuickTime bike returned to the pits, however, crew chief Rudy Sanzottera quickly realized there was a problem. “The bike could’ve run 180 mph tonight”, said Rudy, “and I got after it a bit on that run. Now, it looks like we’ve hurt something. Eric thinks it might be a broken valve and I have other ideas but, right now, we have to get it down the track in the final”. The decision was made to run the championship dash with no nitrous oxide injection and hope the engine held together long enough to stay ahead of its opposition. Greg Cave, appearing in his first career final round, had no idea he actually held the advantage as they staged for the title bout.
Sanzottera knew his only hope was a holeshot and, for the second consecutive event, left the starting line within only a few thousandths of a second of the green light’s illumination in the final round. Even with a deficit of thirteen hundredths of a second, however, Cave’s Suzuki could win the battle if it simply repeated its 9.32-second semi-final performance. It didn’t; Sanzoterra’s 9.52/141.67 was an unlikely winner when Cave’s bike slowed to a 9.88/138.60.
The win not only gave Sanzoterra his sixth victory of the season in eight completed events but his current streak of four straight titles equals his similar romp from June 6 through July 11, 2007. With Ingram’s first-round defeat and Brandy’s failure to qualify, the Quicktime team also gained a sizeable point lead in the season championship standings. Sanzottera did score one new record for Quicktime, however; his low qualifying position marked the fifth event in a row in which he led the SBSS field!
DOC’S STREET BIKE SHOOTOUT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS (as of AUGUST 7th, 2008)
Pos Points Name
1 (23) Eric Sanzottera St. Peters MO 03 GSX 1100 Suz
2 (15) Shawn Ingram Robertsville MO 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw
3 (9) Amir Brandy St. Louis MO 05 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
4 (5) Josh McDaniel Robertsville MO 03 ZX10-R 1000 Kaw
5 (3) Greg Cave Jacksonville IL 02 GSXR1000 1000 Suz
6 (2) Janie Palm Bunker Hill IL 03 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
7 (2) Jesse Gatlin St. Louis MO 04 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
8 (2) Don Klarer St. Charles MO 00 ZX1200R 1200 Kaw
9 (2) Joe Jordan St. Louis MO 04 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
10 (1) Kevin Ellison St. Louis MO 04 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
11 (1) Ethan Humbert East Alton IL 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw
12 (1) Charles Willis Bunker Hill IL 04 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
13 (1) Evan Holland St. Louis MO 03 Hayabusa 1300 Suz
14 (1) Rickey Johns St. Louis MO 06 ZX1400 1400 Kaw
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 August 6th 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 (left) with the Sanzottera and Biggs families
Greg Cave, Jacksonville, IL 2002 Suzuki GSXR1000
Greg Cave (left) and family