2019 Corvette ZR1 Ran a Very Unofficial 7:12 at the Nurburgring

Fans with stopwatches insist that the new Corvette ZR1 failed to get anywhere near the expected six-minute range.

We learned last week that General Motors was testing the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 at the Nurburgring without any camo and, now, the 755-horsepower supercar is back on the 12.9-mile track. With cars being delivered to buyers, all of the pre-production testing is done, so this car must be involved in a Nordschleife record run, but based on these unofficial numbers – no records were being set on Monday morning.

Trackside timers

The only official time for the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 will come from General Motors via an on-board timing system, but when there is high performance traffic on the Nurburgring, there are spectators with stopwatches stationed along the side of the track. On Monday morning, the folks at BridgeToGantry.com spoke with a handful of these amateur timing fans at the 13^th turn of the fabled Nordschleife, and they agreed that the C7 ZR1 was only able to muster a lap time of 7 minutes and 12 seconds.

That is good, but far from the expected pace. Uh-oh.

Other fast Chevys

The current Camaro ZL1 1LE turned in a best time of 7:16.04 and the new Corvette ZR1 was expected to get much closer to the six-minute range, if not getting into that elite time bracket. The ZR1 has more than a hundred more horsepower than the ZL1, and the Corvette weighs considerably less than the Camaro. However, based on these unofficial timers, the LT5-powered supercar was only four seconds faster than the LT4-powered muscle car. What’s going on here?

GM has never announced an official Nurburgring time for the Z06, but the magazine Sport Auto tested the LT4-powered Corvette (as they do with many vehicles), and the German publication ran a 7:13.9. The reported times from yesterday morning are less than two seconds better than the magazine’s time for the Z06, making it clear that the ZR1 has far more in it.

Expect better

Based on the Nordschleife times for the Camaro ZL1 and the Corvette Z06 with Sport Auto, the 2019 Corvette ZR1 almost certainly has a quicker lap in it. There are rumors that there was localized rain on some portions of the track, but the Porsche 911 GT3RS was on the track at the same time, running laps in the high six-minute range, so it wasn’t having issues with a wet surface.

There is also the possibility that on the timed lap, the Corvette ZR1 got stuck behind a slower-moving vehicle or ran into some other issue that led to slower-than-expected times.

In any case, our safe money says that when GM announces the official Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time, it will be a whole lot better than a 7:12.

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Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com