Corvette ZR1X, ZR1 become fastest two American cars at Nürburgring

General Motors brought the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X to the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in Germany for hot lap runs.

Chevrolet Corvette Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X at Nürburgring Nordschleife — *General Motors brought the Chevrolet Corvette Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X (back to front) to the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack in Germany. – GM Canada photo*

The ‘Vette has has surpassed the ‘Stang to become the fastest American car at the ‘Ring, and not just once but twice.

Chevrolet brought three versions of its Corvette – the Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X – to the fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife race track in Germany for some hot laps.

Their task was to see if the ‘Vette could become the fastest American car at the track and the time to beat was the Ford Mustang GTD’s 6:52:072, which was set earlier this year.

Drivers of the ZR1 and ZR1X both managed to do it.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X at Nürburgring Nordschleife — *The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X became the fastest American car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany. – GM Canada photo*

The ZR1X, piloted by vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell, came in with a lap time of 6:49.275.

The ZR1, piloted by vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace, managed a lap time of 6:50.763.

The Z06 was no slouch either, being driven by vehicle performance manager Aaron Link, coming in with a time of 7:11.826.

“No auto manufacturer has done a Nürburgring lap attempt like this before,” said General Motors president Mark Reuss in a news release. “From development through production, and now at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the Green Hell, we have clearly shown there is no limit to what our GM engineers and vehicles can accomplish. These are the best Corvettes in history, period.”

The 20.832-kilometre Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit is considered the gold standard for testing vehicle performance due to its demanding layout.

It features 73 corners, more than 300 metres of elevation changes and a narrow track width that leaves little room for errors.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 at Nürburgring Nordschleife at Nürburgring Nordschleife — *The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 became the second fastest American car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany. – GM Canada photo*

The cars

The Corvette Z06 is powered by a naturally aspirated 5.5-litre V8 and has 670 hp, the ZR1 is powered by a turbocharged version of the same engine and has 1,064 hp and the ZR1X is a plug-in hybrid powered by the same engine as the ZR1 plus an e-motor on the front axle for a total of 1,250 hp, plus it has all-wheel drive thanks to that electric motor.

Drew Cattell with Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X — *Drew Cattell piloted the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X to its record lap time. – GM Canada photo*

The drivers

The three drivers, while they’re not race car drivers, are not new to driving fast, with all three having completed more than 400 laps each at Nürburgring during their time developing and testing GM vehicles.

“We’ve created a different kind of relationship between our cars, iconic tracks, and our engineers, it is how we develop our vehicles,” said Ken Morris, senior vice president of product programs, safety, integration and Motorsports, in the release. “These Corvettes weren’t piloted by pro racecar drivers. They were driven by the same engineers who designed, engineered and tuned them. Brian, Aaron and Drew have grown into world-class drivers and even better engineers. Their lap times now rank among the fastest ever recorded by non-professionals at the ‘Ring, which is so cool.”

Fastest cars at the ‘Ring

The fastest production car lap time at the Nordschleife was set with a Mercedes-AMG One, with a time of 6:29.090. Mercedes and Porsche own the top four spots.

The ZR1X was good enough for fifth fastest lap time and the ZR1 was good enough for seventh, knocking the Mustang GTD into eighth quickest.