The 2012 ZR1 smashes the Viper ACR's ‘Ring record - with video

Today the folks at General Motors posted a video on YouTube of the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 on the famed Nürburgring race course in Germany – a video in which the ZR-1 turned a stunning lap time of just 7:19.63, effectively destroying the record held by the Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR since August 2008.

The video below of the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 tearing around the Nürburgring offers an amazing in-car view of the fastest official lap set by an American sports car at the famous race course. With GM engineer Jim Mero at the wheel, the ZR-1 screamed through the 12.9 mile road course with the result being a lap time of 7.19:63. This time makes the 2012 ZR-1 almost seven seconds faster around the ‘Ring than the 2008 ZR-1 and it allows GM to take bragging rights of the fastest production vehicle to lap the German course – with the only mainstream vehicle claiming a better time being the Porsche 911 GT2 RS after posting a lap time of 7:18.

As the video begins Corvette Chief Engineer Tadge Juechter explains why GM decided to bring the ZR-1 back to the ‘Ring, pointing out the advantages of the new Michelin Pilot Sport Cup tires along with both chassis and aerodynamic improvements made to the Chevrolet supercar for 2012. These tires were designed specifically for the ZR-1 with cooperation between Michelin and Chevrolet – with an amazing outcome.

The previous best American vehicle to lap the Nürburgring was the 2009 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR, which lapped the ‘Ring in 7.22:1 in August of 2008. The good news for GM is that the Viper is not currently in production so Dodge (or is it the SRT brand now?) will likely not be quick to take back their title. The bad news for GM is that the next generation Dodge Viper is slated to hit the streets in the spring or summer of 2012 – and with help from the folks at Ferrari we can expect the next generation Viper to be stronger, faster and more driver-friendly than the previous generation. This could allow the Viper to try to best the 2012 ZR-1 time but for now, GM is the King of the ‘Ring.

Check out the video below courtesy of General Motors via YouTube of the amazing 2012 Corvette ZR-1 run around the Nürburgring. As you are doing so, pay close attention to the speedometer in the top left of the video. This provides a better idea of just how fast the ZR-1 is going through some of the crazy turns of the Nurburging, with speeds in excess of 183mph. By the way, for those speed junkies who are more interested in seeing the ZR-1 climb to its highest speed on this track, the long straightaway run begins right around 6:31 of the video.

Congrats to everyone at GM for producing an incredible American supercar that continues to raise the bar for performance cars in this country and around the world.

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