Bridge to Gantry Reports an Unofficial 7:12 Lap Time for the 2019 Corvette ZR1 at the Nurburgring

Last week we learned the Corvette ZR1 was back at the Nurburgring, ostensibly to lay down a timed lap for Chevy which serves to benchmark the car against other manufacturers, as well as to earn some bragging rights for owners who are shelling out over $120K for the fastest Corvette ever made.

However, if this account from BridgetoGantry.com is correct, Corvette owners aren’t going to be too happy with the news.

On the day that track observers noted a Bright Green Porsche 991.2 GT3RS recording a sub-seven minute time (6m56s to be exact), the Corvette ZR1 with the ZTK package reportedly came up with an unofficial lap time of 7 minutes 12 seconds. That time is quicker than the C6 ZR1 which lapped the Nurburgring in 7:19.63, but well off the mark that most of us are expecting.

The site notes that carspotters based by the T13 pit lane were doing the unofficial timing and there was no confirmation if the lap was impacted by a rain shower or some other compromising event elsewhere on the 12.9 mile track.

BridgetoGantry.com shows a White Corvette ZR1 (or is that Cyber Matrix Gray?) on their page but we are unsure whether that time was set by this car or the Torch Red ZR1 spotted previously.

Looking at the White Corvette ZR1, we do see a GoPro mounted in the front fascia on the passenger side and there may be another camera mounted front and center on the roof. There does appear to be a small piece of black carbon fiber trim missing from the front fascia on the driver’s side as well.

I wouldn’t put to much stock into these early reports (yet) as we feel the ZR1 is much more capable around a track than the C7 Corvette Z06, which set a timed lap of 7:13.19 by the German auto magazine Sport Auto last summer. With better aero and packing over 100 horsepower more than the Z06, the 2019 Corvette ZR1 in the hands of Jim Mero or Corvette Racing’s ace driver Oliver Gavin should be able to improve those lap times significantly.

Chevy’s engineers have the opportunity to specifically set up the ZR1’s aerodynamics for a track like the Nurburgring which offers its share of twisty corners and high-speed straights. We also know from previous seminars that the engineers break down the track into segments during testing so they should know immediately which part of the track is costing them time. I also have to wonder if those Laguna exhaust pipes are corking up any of the ZR1’s performance capabilities as well?

Finally, we have to believe that with all the grief the Corvette team received for not releasing an official Z06 time that they won’t be leaving Germany anytime soon until they get the time they were aiming for.

Source:
bridgetogantry.com

Related:
[VIDEO] The 2019 Corvette ZR1 is Back at the Nurburgring
Oliver Gavin Says He’s Lapped the Nurburgring in the 2019 Corvette ZR1…And Will Be Back in 2018 To Do It Again!
[VIDEO] Sport Auto Takes a C7 Corvette Z06 to 7:13.9 on the Nurburgring