jimmyb

Title says it all...anyone know who took Jim's place as resident Corvette hotshoe?

skank

Alex McDonald. I heard over two years ago that he was lapping faster than Mero at the Nordshliefe. Matt Satchell also. I met him at the Motor Trend Best Drivers test this year.

https://autoweek.com/article/superca...alex-macdonald

https://www.wardsauto.com/test-drive...ow-your-limits

https://www.corvette-mag.com/issues/122/articles/reaching-the-apex#.W5hOuy2ZP-Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqENJ0SghKQ

https://www.kbb.com/car-news/all-the-latest/2015-chevrolet-corvette-z06-first-review-best-of-the-best/2000011604/

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2018/05/2019-c7-corvette-zr1-claims-vir-full-course-record-video/

Lavender

Hopefully now they'll have a professional race car drive from Corvette Racing go for the hot laps @ Nurburgring. But one can only hope!

Shaka

A race car driver is not an engineer. A street car is vastly different to a race car. Mero and and McDonald will go faster than Magnason and then be able to tune the shocks to boot.

AORoads

Good points, Shaka!

AVETTE

Yes they can go fast and tune the shocks, go faster than Magnason or Garcia, no, just no... Not on their best day, not ever

Trackaholic

They should give a drive to whoever has been working on the Camaro lately. The SS1LE (both 5th and 6th gen) as well as the Z/28 have been excellent, with practically no complaints.

-T

heavychevy

All of the fastest cars at the ring have professional factory drivers setting their times. Mero has more than held his own over the years. But to think he's faster alone than sending 2 or 3 corvette racing drivers to the ring and hot lapping a few cars like the other manufacturers are doing is not accurate.

Lavender

Cool story, Bro.

Kodiak Bear

Slightly different prospective: fast doers not mean a racer. In The Unfair Advantage, Martk D mentions being unable to match Mero's speed on a "skid square" (that's a square area GM uses that has quarter radiused corners for setting and testing the balance of a car). That doesn't mean Mero would beat anyone in a race or maybe he could. Just means diffeent conitions bring out different results. On an empty track it is possible that Mero would beat the team drivers, in the 24 hours of LeMans, that's open to seeing.

Shrike6

vette friend

You heard wrong. MacDonald is very fast. He got Mero by a few tenths on the VIR full course, but not even close on the Nordshliefe. Not because he doesn't have the talent, but because he has only a few laps there compared to Mero's thousands.

Shrike6

vette friend

I remember reading somewhere that Gavin was at the Nurburgring last year driving the ZR1 and hoped to be there this year to set a time. But Mero was the driver in April. Just sayin'

ColoradoGS

I'm confused. skank said he heard MacDonald was fast. You say he heard wrong and then go on to give data on how MacDonald is indeed fast.

I mean, I don't much care but I found it

vette friend

Skank said the following:

Alex McDonald. I heard over two years ago that he was lapping faster than Mero at the Nordshliefe.

skank

Thats exactly what I was told at the Laguna Seca IMSA race that Alex McDonald was attending two years ago. Alex didn't tell me that but one of his guests that was with him did. I talked to Alex and he was very cordial and extremely informative. He was not tooting his own horn. His guest did. I'm sure he would have denied that comment if it wasn't accurate. I'll bet there are times when one test engineer is faster than the other on certain days. Could be as simple as that ! My comment is not taking anything away from Jim Mero as I think he was a huge cog in the success of the Corvettes progress. I've watched every video and read every tidbit of info that Jim has participated in and I have huge respect for him. I also had a few talks with test development engineer Matt Satchell during this years Motor Trends Best drivers car test and we discussed the test development engineers vs pro Team Corvette drivers setting lap times at certain tracks around world for marketing reasons. He was very humble and also very cordial. Ironically, about 3 or 4 years ago I talked to Tommy Milner of Team Corvette and I asked him if he could beat Jims time around the ring and he said absolutely. I guess he would have to say that though. Wouldn't want to admit it any other way. Regardless, I think they all respect each other !!! So no, I didn't hear wrong I just heard a comment you didn't want to hear.

vette friend

I profusely apologize for the way I stated my previous reply to you.

I should have said that whoever said Alex was faster at the Nordschleife was incorrect. Especially if it was communicated to you 2 years ago. I have it on good authority the first time Alex was there as a driver was in 2017.

Please accept my humble appology.

Shaka

As I say, driving a street car and a track car like my Vette on the left requires totally different skills. I bet I can drive my car faster than Sebastian Loeb can. A stock car driver can drive a F1 car, but a F1 driver can't drive NASCAR. Kyle Bush must be one of the greatest drivers in history. My roadster with slicks is downright scary to drive and that has no aero stuff. There is tons of instrumentation in development cars. Mero would take half a dozen springs of differing rates to the Ring. He doesn't drive alone. The car is also monitored by telemetry. The Ring, of which I have done 12 laps, is a road and not a race track. Mero does city and country test/development driving also in less than exemplary weather. When you scratch build a car, it doesn't matter how sophisticated you CAD program is, you will have to change plenty things, sometimes may times over. Just getting the brakes right, defies all logic. My new car is a luxury car, I'm going to need some help.
Unless a race car driver is an engineer, he is clueless of how a new car is set up, especially a street car. It is far more complicated than a race car. Heck, I drove in my friend's wife's Toyota Avalon. I couldn't come close to tuning to that level of refinement. It's mind boggling that this is achieved mechanically. German engineers would not be able to do it, I must be German. Race car engineering,( get the online magazine) is brute force engineering compared to street cars. If you haven't been there and done that, you have no business commenting, a very big problem on this forum. Just try and go onto an SAE forum or the Engineer on line sometime.

texel

https://twitter.com/bridge2gantry/status/1039913230129405952?s=19