• Corvette ZR-1 king of Nürburgring

While the entire world of motoring is waxing lyrical about the Nissan GTR’s Nürburgring lap record smash, another record wipes its novelty off. The machine that beat the Nissan GTR’s record is a Corvette.

Yes, a Corvette. I’ve always imagined Corvettes to be quentessential American muscle cars. Powerful no doubt but lacking in agility, handling and technology to go head to head against top-of-the-range road legal supercars like 911s, Enzos, Superleggeras or the latest uber-racer from Japan: Nissan GTR. To see a Corvette smashing the GTR’s ring lap record, which also means beating the mighty Porshe 911’s lap record, is nothing short of amazing. I was expecting Porshe to tune up a faster 911 to retaliate the Nissan GTR but now, the challenge hails from US instead of Japan.

The GTR crushing run saw the Corvette ZR1 lapping the Nurburgring at 7:26.4 minutes. You may be surprised to know that the ZR1 driven by Jim Mero is absolutely stock! Everything from the Corvette body, engine, calibration, chassis, fuel and weight will be similar to the ZR1 Americans will be driving later this summer. That means a race-spec modded ZR1 could very well run a much faster lap.

As far as I know, a racing spec Nissan GT-R V is currently in the works to reclaim it’s short-lived achievement. Would Corvette oblige to taking the challenge to a next level?