Courtesy Alex Thompson, American Le Mans Series, Media Relations ManagerBraselton, Ga. - When it comes to records in the American Le Mans Series, Johnny O'Connell is one of the first names mentioned. Whether it's career starts (he leads with 60), victories (tied for first with 24) or top-10 finishes (first again with 58), he is nearly unmatched.
This weekend at the Grand Prix of Mosport, O'Connell can tack on yet another bullet to his ALMS résumé. A GT1 victory in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R would be the fifth of his career at the Canadian track, making him the only driver to win five times at two different ALMS venues.
He and teammate Ron Fellows won for the fifth time at Infineon Raceway in July. At Mosport, they teamed to win every year from 2001-03. In 1999, the first year of the American Le Mans Series, O'Connell co-drove to an overall victory (his first in the ALMS) with Jan Magnussen in a Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S.
"It's just a circuit I love. There is so much to be said," O'Connell said. "The Canadian fans are knowledgeable and love it, and the circuit has so much history. You have a lot of huge "brave" corners, which I love, but also technical corners. It really enables drivers that have a softer touch to show what they can do."
Given the high-speed corners and similarities to tracks like Road Atlanta, where the No. 3 car won in April, there could be yet another celebration in the Fellows/O'Connell pit Sunday at Mosport.
"He absolutely loves racing there," said Fellows, the hometown hero who knows a thing or two about the track. "His driving style is very well suited at that place. I think that's one of the reasons we've been successful there. He's also bucking for honorary citizenship here, which we'll gladly give him."
