Jim Mero Ran a 7:04 at Nurburgring in the C7 Corvette ZR1

Mero has shared the time for the Corvette ZR1 on the Facebook account of his new business, having retired from General Motors.

Chevrolet has never announced an official Nurburgring Nordschleife lap time for the C7 Corvette ZR1, but we know that the company spent time testing the 755-horsepower supercar on the legendary German road course. Fortunately, Corvette test driver and engineer Jim Mero has retired from General Motors and announced his best lap time in the new ZR1 on “The Ring” as part of a new business venture.

That time is a 7:04, which is slower than many people expected and that could be why Chevrolet has not officially announced that time for the C7 ZR1. It is still the best lap time by any Corvette, Chevrolet or GM product, but it is slower than the best recorded lap time for the Dodge Viper and several key competitors in the modern supercar world.

Mero’s New Venture

Since retiring from General Motors, where he set a handful of Nurburgring lap time records in C6 Corvette, Jim Mero has started a new business called Jim Mero Vehicle Dynamics. That company is currently offering upgrades for 2010 through 2013 Corvettes, but to showcase Mero’s experience, his new company’s Facebook page has a gallery with pictures and times of his best Nurburgring lap times in various Corvettes.

Within the “Jim’s Nurburgring Lap Times” gallery, you will find pictures and lap times for the 2008 Z06, the 2009 ZR1, the 2012 Z06, the 2012 ZR1, a 2014 Z51, a tuned 2015 Z06, a 2017 Grand Sport and the 2019 ZR1, several of which we have included here. The big news of this group is the ZR1, as Mero reports a best lap time of 7:04, but he points out that he had to start the lap with cold tires.

The 7:04 Lap

There is also a comment on that picture from Mero stating that he will talk more about the lap time at the upcoming National Corvette Museum Bash, but for now, we know that the man who turned in many of the best times by Corvettes on the Nurburgring ran a 7:04 in the C7 ZR1.

As mentioned above, that is the best time around the 12.9-mile Nordschleife by a Corvette, but the majority of people who care about Nurburgring lap times expected the LT5-powered supercar to run in the 6-minute range. Had Mero run that 7:04 lap with properly-heated tires, he could have been in the 6-minute range, but since he did not, there is still no American production car to reach that plateau.

The overall record for a production road car at the Nurburgring is currently held by the Lamborghini Aventador LP770-4 SVJ, which ran a 6:44.97, with the Porsche 911 GT2 RS in a close second with a time of 6:47.25. Mero’s best time in the ZR1 was 20 seconds slower than the Lamborghini, and if this really was the best lap time that the Corvette team could put together, it makes sense that the company has never officially announced a Nurburgring number.

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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