ZR1, GTD, and America's new Nurburgring war

"There's a racetrack with a funny name in Germany that, in the eyes of many international enthusiasts, is the de facto benchmark for automotive performance. But the Nurburgring, a 13-mile (20 km) track often called the Green Hell, rarely hits the radar of mainstream US performance aficionados. That's because American car companies rarely take the time to run cars there, and if they do, it's in secrecy, to test pre-production machines cloaked in camouflage without publishing official times."

"The track's domestic profile has lately been on the rise, though. Late last year, Ford became the first American manufacturer to run a sub-7-minute lap: 6:57.685 from its ultra-high-performance Mustang GTD. It then did better, announcing a 6:52.072 lap time in May. Two months later, Chevrolet set a 6:49.275 with the hybrid Corvette ZR1X, becoming the new fastest American car around that track."

"The Nurburgring is a delightfully twisted stretch of purpose-built asphalt and concrete strewn across the hills of western Germany. It dates back to the 1920s and has hosted the German Grand Prix for a half-century before it was finally deemed too unsafe in the late 1970s. It's still a motorsports mecca, with sports car racing events like the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators, but today, it's better known as the ultimate automotive performance proving ground."

The Nürburgring functions as a global performance benchmark offering 13 miles of varied high-speed corners, elevation changes, and surfaces that severely test engineering. American manufacturers historically rarely ran production cars there, often testing pre-production vehicles in secrecy. Ford recorded a sub-7-minute lap with the Mustang GTD, first 6:57.685 then later 6:52.072. Chevrolet followed with a 6:49.275 lap in the hybrid Corvette ZR1X, claiming the fastest American time. The competition between manufacturers has intensified lap-time escalation. The circuit's demanding layout and historic motorsports pedigree make fast Nürburgring performance a meaningful indicator of overall vehicle capability.

Read at Ars Technica