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2019 C7 Corvette ZR1 Races Around VIR In Lightning Lap: Video

The 2019 C7 Corvette ZR1 wasn’t king of Virginia International Raceway during Car and Driver’s Lightning Lap tests this year, but it put up one hell of a fight and shamed a rival in the process—again.

The 2019 Corvette ZR1 managed to lap VIR in 2:39.5, putting it only behind the Porsche 911 GT2 RS during this year’s event with a 2:37.8. The Corvette was placed in the LL4 category, while the Porsche sat in LL5. C/D splits the cars into five segments: LL1, LL2, LL3, LL4 and LL5. LL4 cars are priced from $125,000 to $249,999, while LL5 is $250,000-plus cars.

2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 – VIR lap record holder on Grand C

However, the Corvette’s VIR lap record remains intact. Earlier this year, the Corvette team set a record of 2:37.25, which the Porsche trailed during C/D testing. Even better for the Chevy/Ford rivalry: the Corvette ZR1 shamed the Ford GT around VIR. Compared to the 2:39.5 time, the GT only managed to scoot around VIR in 2:45.5. The Corvette team had already ousted the GT at VIR when it set its previous record, but C/D only confirmed the Corvette is a quicker machine without the supercar price tag.

Other cars the Corvette ZR1 took down with is Lightning Lap run is the McLaren 720S, Lamborghini Huracán Performante and the Porsche 911 GT3.

2016 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 exterior 003

The fact now-retired Corvette ride and handling engineer, Jim Mero, was on hand to coach drivers how to squeeze the best time out of the ZR1 likely helped. He’s the man who set the lap time record at VIR, after all.

Onboard video shows the lap looks as quick as it sounds, too. The 6.2-lite LT5 supercharged V8 bellows its song into the hills with 755 horsepower screaming aloud and the brakes never seem to tire as they keep the car’s brute force of speed in check. The ZR1 still hasn’t been able to catch Porsche and its GT2 RS, but perhaps that’s not so bad. Remember, the Ford GT came in fifth.

Former GM Authority staff writer.

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Comments

  1. The ZR1 was quick and impressive that it beat the 720S, but that Porsche 911 GT2 Weissach is special.

    Reply
    1. the 911 also costs over 2X as much as the ZR1. so the 2 sec difference costs about $70K/sec.

      Reply
      1. The 911 was also on a quicker tire worth at least a sec. Still impressive.

        Reply
      2. Oh, I agree. The Chevy engineers should be proud with what they have done considering the budget. I remember when the 911 was the affordable supercar.

        Reply
  2. Rating these cars should be based on cost!

    Reply
    1. Nope! The value of a dollar can change overnight, but on a track, a second is a second whether it’s counted by a Corvette or a 911.

      Besides, if you’re looking at price as a deciding factor for any of the above sports cars, then you shouldn’t be looking at sports cars at all. Price is no barrier in this market.

      Reply
      1. I agree with you on the dollar, but you cant be impressed with two cars that are within 2 seconds of each other. One costing 125k and one costing 250k plus!

        If you are comparing cars around 125k then you can say the performance should be similar. But not when your talking about 100k plus difference.

        The dollar going up or down a little is not going to bridge the gap between 100k, maybe 10k but not 100k plus.

        Anybody can make a car go faster with money.

        Reply

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