Corvette ZR1X at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany.

Chevrolet has finally released Nurburgring times for the Corvette ZR1X, ZR1, and Z06, and as you might imagine, they are spectacular.

Enthusiasts have been waiting for months for these times to be announced for the latest C8 Corvettes. Some on social media opined that GM wasn’t going to release numbers because the car was not as fast around The Green Hell as the Mustang GTD, a $325,000 specialty ponycar model from Ford.

This, it turns out, is not the case. Only the naturally-aspirated Z06 was slower than the GTD.

The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X, ZR1 and Z06 took over the 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit where, for the first time in the track’s history, an automaker brought three different cars with three non-racecar drivers to record three lap times in a single visit. The Chevrolet team now has the fastest official laps set by an American manufacturer at the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Corvette development engineers and engineers from Michelin pictured with the Corvette Z06, ZR1 and ZR1X (pictured left to right).

Corvette ZR1X vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell completed a 6:49.275 lap in the electrified all-wheel drive ZR1X and now has the fastest lap time of any non-professional racecar driver at the Nürburgring in the list of official record laps. ZR1 vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace set a 6:50.763 time in the 1,064-horsepower ZR1.

The 670-horsepower Corvette Z06, with the most powerful naturally aspirated V8 ever put in a production car, set a lap of 7:11.826 with vehicle performance manager Aaron Link behind the wheel.

“No auto manufacturer has done a Nürburgring lap attempt like this before,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “From development through production, and now at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the Green Hell, we have clearly shown there is no limit to what our GM engineers and vehicles can accomplish. These are the best Corvettes in history, period.”

The Corvettes at the Nürburgring were all U.S. production-spec vehicles, with the only modifications being the safety equipment recommended by the track. This includes a roll hoop, full containment race seat, fire extinguisher, and a six-point safety harness. All three set lap times for the Prototype/Pre-Production category, since the ZR1 and ZR1X are not sold in Europe and the Z06 was a North American variant.

Chevrolet Is Pleased As Punch

“We’ve created a different kind of relationship between our cars, iconic tracks, and our engineers, it is how we develop our vehicles,” said Morris. “These Corvettes weren’t piloted by pro racecar drivers. They were driven by the same engineers who designed, engineered and tuned them. Brian, Aaron and Drew have grown into world-class drivers and even better engineers. Their lap times now rank among the fastest ever recorded by non-professionals at the ‘Ring, which is so cool.”

Since 2019, lap times have been officially recorded, confirmed and published by the Nürburgring, with carmakers providing video proof from the world’s most demanding racetrack. Below are the fastest production cars on the 12.9-mile full circuit of the Nürburgring Nordschleife, also known as the Green Hell, according to the Nürburgring’s website.

Fastest Production Cars at the Nürburgring

# Time Vehicle Category

1 06:29.090 Mercedes AMG One Super Sports Car
2 06:43.300 Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Performance Kit Sports Car
3 06:44.749 Porsche 911 GT2 RS MR Modified Vehicles
4 06:48.047 Mercedes AMG Black Series Sports Car
5 06:49.275 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X Prototypes / Pre-Production Vehicles
6 06:49.328 Porsche 911 GT3 RS Sports Car
7 06:50.763 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 Prototypes / Pre-Production Vehicles
8 06:52.072 Ford Mustang GTD Sports Car

These numbers for the Corvette ZR1X, ZR1 and Z06 are incredible for sure, but are really just for barroom bragging rights. It is not like the average person is going to fly their Corvette or Mustang or whatever to Germany to try and duplicate or improve these time. The real battles will continue to be waged on the street, road courses and drag strips of America.