The Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X is the fastest American car ever around the Nürburgring

Back in December last year, Ford announced that its new-but-not-a-diesel GTD had set a Nürburgring lap time of 6m 57.6s, making it the fastest American car ever to lap the Green Hell. Then, in May this year Ford went back to Germany and shaved 5.5 seconds off that time for a new record of 6m 52.072s.

Unfortunately, that record has now been blitzed by not just one, but two different Chevrolet Corvettes.

Yep, the bonkers ZR1X – the hybridised, all-wheel drive 1,250bhp Corvette – is now the new American record holder, with a blistering lap time of 6m 49.275s. And the ‘standard’ ZR1 with its twin-turbo 5.5-litre V8 sending 1,064bhp to the rear wheels alone wasn’t far behind, with an official ‘Ring time of 6m 50.763s.

Both of those cars were equipped with the track-focussed ZTK Package, and both lap times were set by non-professional racecar drivers. Wait, what?

Yep, the drivers were Chevrolet engineers who helped to develop the cars, which means vehicle dynamics engineer Drew Cattell in the ZR1X now holds the fastest lap time of any non-pro driver at the Nürburgring. Nice!

Of course, it’s not like Cattell had never seen the ‘Ring before – he already had 600 laps under his belt before this record attempt. Fellow vehicle dynamics engineer Brian Wallace had already completed 425 laps before his go in the ZR1.

Still mightily impressive though, and Chevrolet says that it highlights “the depth of talent and performance within General Motors”.

Oh, and while it was at it, Chevrolet also decided to send the naturally aspirated, 670bhp Corvette Z06 round. That set a time of 7m 11.826s with vehicle performance manager Aaron Link at 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.”