Corvette C8 Z06 Laps the Nürburgring Like It's a Walk in the Park

I woke up this morning and noticed the rising Nurburgring star had driven the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 on the Nordschleife. I've been thinking about Corvettes more often since I interviewed Jim Mero in November 2022. The amount of thought and effort he has put into developing Chevrolet's iconic model is mindblowing.

When I asked him how many laps he had driven in Corvettes, he answered, "about 40,000 in 20 years". Mr. Mero needed seven minutes and 26 seconds to lap the Nordschleife in a C6 ZR1 back in 2008. Four years later, he was about four seconds faster in a C6 Z06 before doing a sub 7:20 lap in the ZR1.

The C7 ZR1 attempt has a more complicated story behind it, and you'd understand it better if you read the interview. I'm at the point where I know I would love to have a 911 in my garage, but buying an older Corvette would be so much easier for me. I think I should embark on a quest to get behind the wheel of the new C8 as fast as possible.

A few years ago, the Internet almost went crazy as Oliver Gavin tested the eighth-gen Corvette around the Nordschleife. He recorded a fast lap of 7:29.90, slightly quicker than a Porsche Carrera S (992), a BMW M4 Competition (G82) and the 997.2 GT3 RS. The C8 had a Z51 performance package, but we all knew that the upcoming Z06 would be faster than that.

Misha drove the C8 in 2022, doing a sub-8-minute lap during a Nurburgring track day. But the YouTuber turned race driver had a passenger with him and was still far from reaching the car's maximum potential. Now, someone gave him the keys to the C8 Z06, and you can tell how focused he was during the lap just by looking at his face.

On his first lap, he overtook 18 cars and one motorcycle, recording a Bridge-to-Gantry time of about seven minutes and 23 seconds. One of the highlights of the lap includes hitting 165 mph (266 kph) before braking for Schwedenkreuz. Going through the bottom of the Foxhole at 161 mph (260 kph) was pretty exciting, too.

I tried to do some rudimentary math, adding up the lost seconds caused by each slow driver in front. And the 7:23 lap could have easily been a 7:10 from the get-go. The Bridge-to-Gantry lap is about 20 seconds shorter than the full layout, meaning Misha was about as fast as Oliver Gavin without knowing the car. Many expect the C8 Z06 to achieve a sub-7-minute lap with the right driver and track conditions. And that begs the question: could the C8 ZR1 dream to be as fast as the Porsche 911 GT3 RS?