Still Going Strong

The connection between Corvette and Bob Bondurant goes back 44 years, when the man now known as one of the world's premier driving instructors won the 1959 SCCA West Coast B Production Championship and the Corvette Driver of the Year Award. Many years, many other marques, and a successful racing career have come and gone since those days, and it's now been 35 years since the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving opened for business. Bondurant and crew recently threw open the doors of their Phoenix facility to celebrate this anniversary, but, as we announced in our February issue, Corvettes and Cadillac CTS' are now Bondurant's school vehicle of choice, giving us another great reason to celebrate.

The all-day affair started off bright and early with--what else--on-track lead-follow sessions in the school's new Corvettes. A select few--myself included--got to go for a hot lap session in one of the school's cars with Mr. Bondurant himself. As you might expect, the ride was a helluva lot of fun, and educational to boot. Those who took the ride also ended up with a video disc of the experience, thanks to the XtremeLens(TM) "tri-media instant replay system" installed in the Z06s. There was also an opportunity to tackle the school's autocross course in the Caddys--definitely an interesting trip after driving a C5.

A catered lunch followed, during which Bondurant and his accomplishments were honored by GM's Scott Settlemire and Corvette Product Manager Harlan Charles. The General's representatives also addressed the assembled media and school sponsors, making presentations on their respective brands. Informative as Mr. Charles' talk was, I'm sorry to say I still know nothing about the upcoming C6!

The afternoon was filled with more lead-follow sessions and hot laps, not to mention helicopter rides. I also took the opportunity to ask Bondurant about his new school cars. "We're proud to be with GM, and especially the C5, and also Cadillac, and the CTS," he told me. "We're looking forward to a long relationship." I also asked Bob about the difference between the old school cars and the new vehicles. "With the Mustangs," he observed, "we had to build them into a race car, a school car. With the Corvettes and Cadillacs, we don't." In other words, except for the cars' Borla exhaust systems, stiffer stabilizer bars, non-runflat tires, and the rollbars in the Z06s (which Bondurant really likes), the school Corvettes past muster in near-stock trim.

The afternoon then wound down, leading up to an evening dinner and cocktail party. Bondurant was further honored, and also took the mic, thanking those who had came to salute his 35 years of teaching high-performance driving. It was obvious he was proud of his accomplishments at the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, but also looking forward to doing much more. The fact he'll be doing it with Corvettes is icing on the cake, and we'll certainly be back for another helping.