Stig drives the Corvette ZR1

And that's all the information I have, you can try asking Traqmate who posted the clip....

King of the ring...or not?

So this is kind of amusing: Corvette posted a 7min.19 sec. lap of the Nürburgring with the 2012 ZR-1, an awesome lap time from a special car. Porsche had previously claimed 7 min. 18 sec. for their GT2RS. Both cars are on semi slick Michelin Pilot Cups but Dale for one is declaring the Vette king. Why?
Porsche never released a video on YouTube and as we all know if it ain't on YouTube it never happened!
What do you think? Check out the video over on Dale's BTG

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Montoya and the ZR-1: Director's Cut

Here is a different take on Juan Pablo Montoya's media day at the GM proving grounds, the so called "Lutz 'ring".
The Corvette ZR-1 gets the hooligan stamp of approval from JPM who himself seems to find it a challenge keeping it going in one direction! What a sound.


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Bavarian Jake makes the news...

You might remember this inexplicably Jake badged BMW M3 featured on our pages... Apparently Mr. Epic Baller made the news when his first ever race in a Corvette ZR1 ended abruptly about 10 minutes in and is now splashed on the pages of Jalopnik...

Our own The Dough, T-Neck and Eddie were at Watkins Glen and sent us these observations:

"Remember the winner who built up his e90 coupe and turned it into a racecar? Well, he owned a ZR1 as well and decided to turn that into a race car too. After a few sessions in the instructor group over the weekend (where he ran around passing with no point), he put it into the wall ... (T Neck called it). What a shame. "

No doubt Mr. Sobolewski will return with a matte black, Jake decal-led, Ferrari Enzo at the very least!

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One Corvette, three suits

GM is on the edge of bankruptcy and Bertone was not in the best of health so let's hope that the twitter driven PR effort for Jason Castriota's latest creation, the ZR-1 based Stile Bertone Mantide, helps both. They deserve it.

Everyone is talking about this car, I was curious about Axis readers thoughts on it. The design goals are ambitious, one is cutting 250lbs off the 3300lbs ZR-1 making it lighter than the Z06. The second is for the car to break the Nürburgring lap "record".

The Mantide is not the only "fuoriserie" based on the C6 platform, Zagato has one called the Parana Z One and SpadaConcepts was out with the Codatronca last year.

Notice the tendency towards a large hatch design in all three of these cars. This is a design trend which is taking hold and you will see more of in the next few years, from the Porsche Panamera to the BMW 5 series GT to the upcoming Ferrari Scaglietti replacement, a 4wd Bentley GT fighter codenamed F151.

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Monticello Motor Club Videos and Traqmate Data

Lapping MMC South Course on October 24, 2008. BMW M Coupe.

CG and I were at the Monticello Motor Club on Friday, first time actually driving. It was a NASA/PDA track day on the South Course but the club's management was kind enough to give everyone a taste of the full track in the afternoon. Then, apparently, some clown ruined it for everyone and we were relegated back to the South Course for the rest of the day...oh well.

It's a very exciting facility, the full track is spectacular and even the smaller south course is fun to drive. At about two miles it has a great variety of turns that reward good lines and trail braking. Prospective members should note we found proposed future improvements to the track layout spot on and that those designing the course are very much on the ball.

The track will get its final paving layers and curbing next year and when complete it will really be something special. If you get a chance to drive any of the courses at the Club, don't miss it. As a reference, I annotated pictures with some hints that might save you precious laps when you finally do get there. We saw many people struggling to find the line all day and we so hate to see laps wasted, trust us, painted lines are OK to drive over!
The last four frames pertain to the full track. A video lap of the full track is after the jump HERE
Download my Traqmate files for the SOUTH COURSE and the FULL COURSE.



In the parking lot there was a very healthy dose of exotics including two factory cars, a Nissan GTR and a bizarrely optioned Corvette ZR1 there to do a comparison test for Playboy of all things. The driver evaluating the cars was described to us as "an intermediate student over driving the cars"... see why we want to do our own tests?

Pushrod's revenge

You've seen it on many other sites by now but I thought it would be unfair if we did not put it on Axis as well.   Here is the video of the Corvette ZR1's record lap at the Nürburgring.

My question: why is it that GM test drivers shuffle steer? Is it a corporate mandate? The video of John Heinricy driving the Caddy CTS-V was the same... hmmm..

Anyway, great fun to watch... I think Mr.Mero thought he was about to be toast  at Schwalbenschwanz for a second!

Video after the jump

And Corvette throws down the big number: 7:26.4!

As predicted, GM driver Jim Mero made the Nissan and Weissach boys cry at the Nürburgring  Friday!...




Here is the official press release:

"I know many people have been very interested in how fast the ZR1 would be at the Ring…

Most car enthusiasts are quite familiar with the Nürburgring. Built in the 1920’s near Cologne, Germany, “the Ring” is considered to be the toughest and most challenging race track in the world.

Over the last two weeks, we have been doing our final tuning and testing there before we start ZR1 production cars. This morning (Friday June 27), General Motors development engineer Jim Mero drove the Corvette ZR1 around the Nürburgring in a time of 7:26.4.

Jim commented after the lap that conditions were good except for a strong headwind down the main straight and that the lap was solid, but he felt there were a few places he could have gone faster.

The car was bone stock with the exception of the communications and safety equipment. The tires were production Michelin Pilot Sport 2’s. These tires have been developed specifically for the ZR1 and will have impressive wet traction and wear (tread wear rating = 220), in addition to excellent dry road holding. Chassis alignment and vehicle height were set to factory specs. Likewise, the engine calibrations were absolutely stock, emissions compliant and the car ran on pump (not racing) fuel. The vehicle was exactly like the cars that will be built in Bowling Green, Kentucky and sold around the world later this summer.

Despite posting one of the fastest times ever run by a production car, Nürburgring lap times were not an over-riding priority in the development of the ZR1. The truth is, if the only priority was speed at the ring, the car would not be very pleasant to drive on American roads. The ZR1 is an incredibly capable track machine, but unlike most ultra-high performance cars, it is very easy to live with on a daily basis.

The timed lap was run with a rolling start, a departure from our previous practice of standing starts. This is more aligned with current industry practice. The lap was electronically timed and confirmed with two hand-held stopwatches. An in-car video will be posted when the engineering team returns from Germany. Look for it the week of July 7!"

Corvette ZR1 video at the Nürburgring

Tough life for a motorhead living and working at the 'ring.
Dale at BTG says "this is how I spend my lunch hour on sunny days"...






Mr.Lomas is convinced GM is getting ready to throw down a big lap time any day now..... tune in to BTG where you'll probably hear about it first!


Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 on the Nurburgring from MrBTG on Vimeo.

Hot weather means hot prototypes testing at the 'Ring

Our tracktard brothers at BridgeToGantry report fresh sightings. Apparently an unusual run of dry mild weather means it's time to shred some rubber in the Rhineland.

"...Without insider knowledge* it would be difficult to confirm, but I think they may have been looking for a laptime today. From my office window I spotted a helicopter chasing something that sounded very V8 and awfully supercharged.."

But that's not all. The eagle eyed BTG crowd spotted a v6 Lotus Eagle in "dazzle" camouflage but the real catch of the week is the mysterious Veritas RS3 prototype.... check out this rare sight:

Veritas testing at the Nurburgring from MrBTG on Vimeo.

2009 Corvette ZR1 testing at the Nürburgring

Our friends at BridgeToGantry.com have been looking at the ZR1 pounding pavement... they report awesomeness.