‘Congrats’ and ‘game on,’ Ford CEO says after Chevy’s record Nürburgring run

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 each surpassed the Ford Mustang GTD’s quickest lap record for an American car at Germany’s Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit.

Ford Mustang GTD at Nürburgring Nordschleife — *The Ford Mustang GTD was previously the fastest American car at the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. – Ford photo*

It appears there’s a bit of a friendly rivalry between Ford and General Motors that is being played out in Germany.

The folks at GM just scored the quickest and second quickest lap times by an American car at Germany’s fabled Nürburgring Nordschleife race track, knocking the previous record holder, the Ford Mustang GTD, into third place.

Despite this, the head of Ford doesn’t seem all too concerned.

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, driven by Drew Cattell, came in with a lap time of 6:49.275.

The Corvette ZR1, driven by Brian Wallace, scored a lap time of 6:50.763.

Both of those surpassed the Mustang GTD’s lap time of 6:52:072, which had been achieved earlier this year.

Following the announcement of the ‘Vette twins’ achievement, the CEO of the Ford Motor Company responded.

“Congrats to the Corvette team. Game on!” said Ford CEO Jim Farley in a reply to a post by the official Corvette Instagram account.

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Can the ‘Stang top the ‘Vette?

It’s already an incredible achievement to score a sub-seven-minute lap time at the Nordschleife, and getting a time below the ZR1X’s 6:49.275 will be a marvel.

But, keep in mind the Ford team ran the Mustang GTD at the circuit in 2024 and managed a time of 6:57:685 in poor weather and track conditions, so they returned in 2025, when conditions were better, and chipped off more than five seconds from the initial run.

Ford has also created the Mustant GTD Spirit of America, which could be even quicker.

*The Ford Mustang GTD Spirit of America features a lot of exposed carbon fibre elements. – Ford photo*

The car is powered by the same V8 with 815 hp as the regular GTD, but has a whole of aero enhancements added on, including a performance wide body design, and exposed carbon fibre aerodynamic elements, including a front splitter, rear diffuser and spoiler.

More downforce likely results in a lower top speed but better road holding on the track, which could give it an even quicker lap time.

It will be interesting – and fun for us automotive aficionados – to see if and how Ford responds Chevy’s record run at the Nürburgring.

The overall fastest production car at the track is the Mercedes-AMG One, which was driven by Maro Engel in a time of Maro Engel.