“Glückwunsch” to Executive Corvette Chief Engineer Tony Roma and his team of drivers at the Nürburgring 24 Hour race that happened over the weekend. That means Congratulations in German, and its well-deserved as his team finished second in the “V2T Front” class at the N24 in a Cupra Leon KL fielded by Jung Motorsport.
Like a true privateer racer, he ran this weekend’s N24 race on his own dime.
“I would love to drive a GT4 car or something, but when you’re on your own finance, when you’ve got to convince your wife that this is a good idea…”
To be honest, I had never heard of a Cupra León KL before, so I ask Grok for some details and he tells me that it’s a front wheel drive automobile manufactured in Spain and produced at a major Volkswagen Group facility. X.com’s A.I. agent also describes it as a ‘hot hatch’ that is a close mechanical relative to the VW Golf GTI.
Hagerty caught up with the Corvette Chief Engineer prior to the race to talk about that other Nürburgring battle between his Corvette team and those from Ford over bragging rights to being “America’s fastest production car” on the famous German track.
Last August, the Corvette Team with its GM development drivers and partners from Michelin set the American production car record for the fastest lap at the Nürburgring. The Corvette ZR1X set the fastest time of the trio with a lap of 6:49.275 while the ZR1 came in just behind it with a lap of 6:50.763. Those times were faster than the Ford Mustang GTD which was the first American manufacturer to run a sub-7 minutes at the ‘Ring with a time of 6:52.072 Ford Mustang GTD.
Photo Credit: Chevrolet
Ford’s CEO Jim Farley responded to the Corvette’s record setting time with a “Game On” tweet. Ford then followed through by returning to the Nürburgring last month in the revised Mustang GTS Competition and lapped the Green Hell with a professional driver in a time of 6:40.835.
“I’m proud of what we did at the Nürburgring. I think we did something a little bit unique with our development drivers, with our homegrown crew,” Tony says. “Everything about that was us and our partners at Michelin. And you know, I guess I have nothing else to say. I’m proud of what we did. I think it stands on its own, and I think it was an accomplishment.”
Expanding further on the Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 record attempt last year, he says:
“I advocated very hard to do what we did last year. I had to convince our financial bosses to give us enough money. That’s not a cheap endeavor. If you have a credible car at the Nürburgring, that means something to people all over the world, and I think that’s important. So doing what we did last summer was amazing. As an American, as a representative of General Motors, as a representative of a Corvette team, just as a car enthusiast, right? I get chills just thinking about it.”
The question was asked to Tony if the Corvette Team was looking to respond to Ford’s achievement by returning to the Nürburgring and attempting to take back the American production lap record with the ZR1X and ZR1. However, his answer may leave Corvette fans feeling a bit dejected:
“I love the fact that that Ford is out there wanting to do more. I love the fact that Porsche is coming back doing more. We will eventually go back to the ‘Ring, not next week, maybe not next month, but when we’ve had time to truly polish a new entry. I don’t feel any undue pressure to run back and set a time.”
Unfortunately for Corvette enthusiasts, that doesn’t sound at all like the “game on” stance that Ford took when Chevy beat their Mustang GTD the first time around. The reality is that the clock is ticking, and it feels like the ZR1X-and only the ZR1X-is that once-in-a-generation sports car that could bring the lap record banner back to the Bowtie brand.
Source:
Hagerty
Related:
Ford CEO Jim Farley Responds to the Corvette Team’s Nürburgring Times with “Game On” Message
Tired of Being Upstaged by Corvette ZR1s, Ford’s Upgraded Mustang GTD Retakes American ‘Ring Record
[VIDEO] The Corvette ZR1X and ZR1 are Now the Fastest American Cars on the Nürburgring
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Mr. Tony Roma: GM is trying hard to make the C8 a no excuses, world class car, and they keep doing stupid, inexcusable things like it’s a rent car-spec Malibu. I wish team Corvette would spend less time worrying about lap times at the Nurburgring, and more time on daily drivability and longevity issues. Thanks, Ray