We already knew the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was fast as lightning, but now it’s official.
The 1,064 hp super-Vette has set a new record in Car and Driver’s benchmark Lightning Lap test at Virginia International Raceway.
The $204,000 Corvette ZR1 lapped the 4.1-mile track in 2:34.2, just barely beating the $850,000 McLaren Senna’s 2:34.9 time from 2019.
It also bested the Porsche 911 GT3 that was part of this year’s test, which did manage to set a record for cars with manual transmissions 2:44.1.
One notable absence from this year’s test was the ZR1’s domestic nemesis, the Mustang GTD. Ford told Car and Driver the car it scheduled to send was damaged and there wasn’t enough time to get it ready for the event.
While Ford typically compares the $327,000 Mustang GTD to the Porsche 911 GT3, it’s fair to assume it would not have been able to challenge the Corvette ZR1 for top honors. The Corvette has already bested it at several tracks, including Sonoma Raceway, Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and The Nürburgring Nordschleife.
Of course, waiting in the wings is the all-wheel-drive 1,250 hp Corvette ZR1X hybrid, which let the Corvette ZR1 take the spotlight this time around, but did beat it at the Nürburgring.
According to Corvette Blogger, Chevrolet has already built more than 1,200 Corvette ZR1s since it entered production last year. One of them was recently put together with help from its owner, Jeff Gordon, who stopped by the Performance Build Center in Bowling Green, Ken., to assist in the assembly of its V8 engine, which is an option for customers.
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