Earlier this year, the Ford Mustang GTD became the fastest American car to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife, clocking a time of 6:52.072 and breaking the seven-minute barrier for the first time among American vehicles.
That record has now been surpassed by Chevrolet. The automaker brought its Corvette Z06, ZR1, and ZR1X to the 12.9-mile Nordschleife. Instead of relying on professional drivers, Chevrolet had three of its in-house engineers—none of them racecar drivers—set blistering lap times.
Drew Cattell, vehicle dynamics engineer for the ZR1X, piloted the electrified all-wheel-drive model to a stunning 6:49.275, earning the title of fastest lap by a non-professional driver and making the ZR1X the quickest American production car ever to lap the Nürburgring. Brian Wallace, ZR1 vehicle dynamics engineer, followed closely with a 6:50.763 lap in the 1,064-horsepower ZR1.
Meanwhile, the 670-horsepower Z06—powered by the most potent naturally aspirated V8 ever in a production car—recorded a 7:11.826 with vehicle performance manager Aaron Link at the wheel.
All three cars were U.S. production-spec models equipped only with Nürburgring-recommended safety modifications: a roll hoop, full-containment race seat, fire extinguisher, and six-point harness.
Chevrolet has also released a video on YouTube detailing their journey on this incredible achievement, which you can watch below.
Source: General Motors
