I recently got to attend the Ron Fellows High Performance Driving Experience at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, and see what the program was all about. I was thrilled to see it was being hosted by the man himself, and he and the whole team were super friendly and happy to chat about Corvettes, racing, and the fine art of driving fast.
The event is structured so that you’re brought up to speed -quite literally- surprisingly quickly. After a short safety briefing, you’re trackside, where you’ll be rotated through three cars; in our case, a Corvette Stingray, E-Ray, and a fire-breathing, screaming Z06.
You, one other participant, and a seasoned pro will go out in three cars, with the pro leading, guiding you via radio. It sounds simple enough, just match the pro’s movements, follow his line, match his braking points, and try and maintain an even 4-ish-car gap.
I will admit I was a tad nervous; this track, the fabled Mosport Grand Prix Circuit, or more commonly known as the big track, has a reputation for being more than a little tricky with it's blind corners and dramatic elevation changes, and on top of that, it's a fast track too. I have only been around this track once, as a passenger, in a Miata, and that was a wild ride... and now I'm going out in the hot seat in a supercar with 670 horsepower. Eep.
No need to be nervous - it starts easily enough, with a calm voice over the radio providing clear instruction on how to best manage the car and maintain a racing line, and speeds gradually ramp up, to a point where I almost felt tricked into driving as fast as we were. Soon enough, you’ll be flying through Mosport’s famous sweepers at speeds you probably wouldn’t have felt confident enough to try on your own, beginning to explore what these incredible cars can do in the right environment.
It's neat to feel the differences between the three cars, too. The "base" Stingray is a phenomenal car that feels very at home on a track like this, and it was probably the one we worked the hardest, and thus was kind of the most fun. It's sort of faultless, with an rock steady chassis, beautiful balance, excellent driver controls, and it only gets better.
The E-Ray adds a serious dose of electric shove and an exotic, alien shriek as the front motor spins up with the bellowing V8; you can really feel the all wheel drive mechanical grip yoinking the front end out of the tight consecutive 90-degree bends that make up Moss Corner before slingshotting you onto the Andretti straightaway.
This was my first time in a Z06, and it was the car I started with, so to be completely honest, I was more focussed on driving well than paying attention to the nuances of the car. However, I can say the front end is significantly sharper than the already-excellent base cars, the added grip of the stickier tires really pays dividends, and the howl of the Italian-esque flat-plane V8 at eight-and-a-half thousand revs is delicious.
You’ll be on track a lot, doing about seven laps in each of the three cars, with a short break in between to catch your breath and pick your coach’s brain. Afterwards, you can go out as a passenger with one of the pros and see what these cars can really do in the hands of a hot-shoe; simultaneously serving to humble your probably-inflated ego and show you how far you can still go in a Corvette.
Riding shotgun in a Z06 being manhandled by someone who knows how to make the most of it on one of the world's fastest tracks was a revelation in how much an achievement the whole C8 program really is.
The Ron Fellows High Performance Driving Experience great time in a very well-run program with wonderful people that I can’t recommend highly enough, both as an existing Corvette owner, a prospective buyer, or just someone who’s interested in trying the big track in a supercar.