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Johnny O’Connell’s Corvette Camp 2005
By Rick Swarts
All Rights Reserved
 Wumbah, Wumbah, echoed through the classroom at the inaugural Johnny
O’Connell Corvette Camp at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC,
September 17 and 18 as the current Factory Corvette ace taught heel
and toe downshifting to enthusiastic Corvette owners primarily from
the Southeastern United States plus some as far away as Ohio and
Illinois!
Three time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and current ALMS GTS Champion
O’Connell, designed Corvette Camp to allow Corvette owners the
opportunity to experience their cars the way they were meant to be
driven. Education, experience and exhilaration were the theme for
the day with a huge emphasis on safety. “We’re bridging the gap
between a track day that offers limited (if any) instruction and a
racing school that is probably too much for most people in content
and price” eluded O’Connell
Concise and complete curriculum for Corvette Camp was designed by
Johnny to offer average enthusiasts new skills
 that they could use
on the racetrack and relate to day-to-day driving. “Ground School”
covered vehicle dynamics, cornering, braking, heel & toe
downshifting, seating position and vision. Great efforts were made
to continually emphasize safety and discipline to “campers” whilst
sharing the secrets of more than twenty years of professional racing
experience.
Johnny O’s ground school was informative and entertaining if not
hilarious. The most entertaining moment of the weekend was Johnny
describing “under steer” by creating a story about Blackie Chan his
new cat that was brought home by his family. It drove home the idea
of weight transfer and brought some people out of their chairs onto
the floor in hysterics. “Johnny put on a Tour de Force of no BS, no
phony hyped up instruction presented in a no-pressure manner” said
John Balling a Corvette Camp participant from Florida.
Classroom talk shuffled into a proper heel and toe downshifting exercise on the front stretch of the fabulous
 2.3 mile road course
at CMP. Slowly, the drivers built confidence in this highly
technical and challenging skill. Some got it, some did not. The
level of commitment from O’Connell was evident in the patience to
make certain all participants were being tended to personally and
understood the importance of heel and toe. “Johnny and Rick are
there to teach, not to humble. “I never once heard a negative
comment from Rick or Johnny about someone's mistakes” said a
participant from Saturday’s camp.
Corner by corner discussion on the track with Johnny O’Connell
offered participants the opportunity to learn the “language” of a
racetrack. Using his keen sense of humor, Johnny pointed out that in
a perfect “Schumacher” world, “there would only be one dark area of
the racing surface.” Along the same lines, he drove home the
importance of picking the right corners to push hard and those to
offer respect. By showing students skid marks flying off the road at
the exit of a corner; he was able to drive home with good visual
reference that crucial point. Along with lessons on reference
points, braking points, gear selection and how to use (or not)
curbs, this forty five minute trip through the mind of one of
Americas best racing drivers was invaluable to participants.
Finally (mind you it’s now only 10:45 AM) it’s time for students to
lap the circuit in two thirty minute “lead/follow” sessions where
students would follow Johnny’s line around the track and gradually
build speed. All participants had the opportunity to follow Johnny
as the car directly behind Johnny would pull over at the end of one
lap and drop to the back of the field. This gave students a chance
to see the proper line and also get accustomed to moving off line on
the racetrack. The pace quickened rapidly and a few people had a
difficult time keeping up at which time instructor Reese Cox (MTI
Racing) or Rick Swarts would flag down the participants and get in
the car with them to help build their speed and confidence. By the
end of the second lead/follow session, drivers were building up
speed and ability rapidly.
 After the catered lunch, O’Connell had grouped drivers into “A” and
“B” groups based on confidence and speed for the afternoon solo
sessions where Johnny and the other instructors would view drivers
both in and out of the cockpit. Drivers were able to go out and
drive hard, pull into the pits to cool their cars, ask questions or
have Johnny get in the car with them. “No where else can you get
hands on training from the "cream of the crop" in road racing. The
highlight of the weekend for me was getting "HOT LAPS" with Johnny
in our Z06” exclaimed Marilyn Sabadaszka of Atlanta. Aside from the
experience of driving with the winner of more races in ALMS history,
having Johnny drive offered the participants a chance to feel the
right way of driving on a racetrack. Many students found this
exchange to be priceless and exhilarating!
Between sessions, drivers would spend time with Johnny talking about
what they did right or wrong and get feedback from him to take with
them in the next session. The track temp was nearly 125 degrees and
drivers were encouraged to go hard two laps, cool down for two just
to keep their Corvettes happy. Volunteers from the local Corvette
club (Capitol City out of Columbia, SC) were at the circuit to
support the participants and made sure they had plenty to drink and
kept an eye out for any signs of fatigue in the drivers.
Tough and burly Aussie Bob Bell ran both Saturday and Sunday camps
and said “I never thought I would be able to handle my car (C5 Z06)
like I learned how here… It was the greatest weekend of my entire
life.” After listening to more comments that generally fell between
the above and “it was incredible,” it was evident Johnny O’Connell’s
Corvette Camp was a total and complete success. “There is nothing
more satisfying to me than knowing we impacted the students and they
are leaving Corvette Camp with a new appreciation for their
Corvettes and their ability to handle them safely” ,said a satisfied
O’Connell.
The day ended as it begun, in the classroom listening to Johnny tell
stories from Corvette Racing and sharing events of the day. Stepping
back, you realize how special a day it was for those who
participated and how much fun Johnny O had sharing himself with his
fans. Ending the day with hugs is probably not the norm at most
racing schools or track days but at Johnny O’Connell’s Corvette Camp
it was.
For more information on upcoming events, please visit
www.johnnyoconnell.com or
www.corvettecamp.com |