Chevy Corvette ZR1 Smashes Days-Old Ford GT VIR Lap Record
Is this why Ford said it wasn't interested in chasing lap records?
Khodrocar - Chevrolet has taken some notes from Koenigsegg it seems. Barely one week after Ford touted its production-car lap record at Virginia International Raceway with the Ford GT, the crosstown rivals sent the new Corvette ZR1 to the track and upstaged the Blue Oval with a time of 2:37.25. For the record (pun absolutely intended), that’s over a full second better than the GT’s 2:38.62 time. Ouch.
It gets better, or worse if you’re a Ford fan. The record was set not during a dedicated attempt, but during validation testing the automaker was conducting on the Corvette.
"The track had been empty since mid-December, so it was a bit slow when we started, but the conditions turned pretty quick at the end,” said Chevrolet’s Vehicle Performance Manager Alex MacDonald. "On the heels of announcing our Z06 time of 2:39.77, the ZR1 lap time is the icing on the cake. It’s not too often you set a lap record during validation testing.”
According to Chevrolet, the ZR1 was at VIR for "routine validation testing” and set up per the owner’s manual with recommended alignment and aero settings. In this case, routine meant 24 hours of hardcore, at-limit track testing. Vehicle Dynamics Engineer Jim Mero – who has the awesome job of driving Corvettes as fast as possible – was at the wheel for the record run, though several General Motors engineers turned laps.
Here’s where things get a little interesting. Chevrolet doesn’t specifically mention when the record was set. The video above was uploaded to YouTube today (January 31) and the press release has the same date. Meanwhile, the press release only mentions "earlier this month” as a general time frame for the record.
Could Chevrolet had already set its record and kept it a secret, knowing Ford would be having a go in the GT? It could also be why Ford said just yesterday that it wasn’t interested in chasing lap records – perhaps word of the ZR1’s run got to the Blue Oval ahead of the official Chevy announcement, and Ford was doing a bit of backpedaling.
Still, it’s not like either car is slow, and a one-second difference can be made up by a changes in weather and track temperatures, something Ford also alluded to yesterday by saying its record run took place in "less than ideal circuit conditions.” More backpedaling perhaps?
In any case, Chevy just beat Ford after having the VIR crown for just eight days, and you know that has to sting execs in Dearborn. Time to grab the popcorn and see how far this fight will go.
It gets better, or worse if you’re a Ford fan. The record was set not during a dedicated attempt, but during validation testing the automaker was conducting on the Corvette.
"The track had been empty since mid-December, so it was a bit slow when we started, but the conditions turned pretty quick at the end,” said Chevrolet’s Vehicle Performance Manager Alex MacDonald. "On the heels of announcing our Z06 time of 2:39.77, the ZR1 lap time is the icing on the cake. It’s not too often you set a lap record during validation testing.”
According to Chevrolet, the ZR1 was at VIR for "routine validation testing” and set up per the owner’s manual with recommended alignment and aero settings. In this case, routine meant 24 hours of hardcore, at-limit track testing. Vehicle Dynamics Engineer Jim Mero – who has the awesome job of driving Corvettes as fast as possible – was at the wheel for the record run, though several General Motors engineers turned laps.
Here’s where things get a little interesting. Chevrolet doesn’t specifically mention when the record was set. The video above was uploaded to YouTube today (January 31) and the press release has the same date. Meanwhile, the press release only mentions "earlier this month” as a general time frame for the record.
Could Chevrolet had already set its record and kept it a secret, knowing Ford would be having a go in the GT? It could also be why Ford said just yesterday that it wasn’t interested in chasing lap records – perhaps word of the ZR1’s run got to the Blue Oval ahead of the official Chevy announcement, and Ford was doing a bit of backpedaling.
Still, it’s not like either car is slow, and a one-second difference can be made up by a changes in weather and track temperatures, something Ford also alluded to yesterday by saying its record run took place in "less than ideal circuit conditions.” More backpedaling perhaps?
In any case, Chevy just beat Ford after having the VIR crown for just eight days, and you know that has to sting execs in Dearborn. Time to grab the popcorn and see how far this fight will go.
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