Rob LoszewskiOn Friday, June 16th, two leaked photos were released to the media showing a 2018 Corvette ZR1 prototype nestled securely in the belly of a 747 flight heading to Europe.
Many folks believe that GM would unveil the ZR1 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans the next day, but alas it was not meant to be.
However, given the modified rear exhaust system, which we saw previously on a couple prototypes running around the Nürburging in order to adhere to local noise restrictions, we assumed there would be no unveiling at Le Mans. Given that full out race cars run the Le Mans race for 24 hours, there would be no reason for GM to keep the modified exhaust system on the car. So we figured, they were headed back to the ‘Ring, probably to keep further validation testing, and possibly attempt a record run. Our assumptions may not have been too off base.
As you can see in the video and photos below, this prototype was spotted at the Nürburging yesterday running a few hot laps with a camera taped to the lower passenger side of the front bumper.
While it seemed odd to us that Corvette Engineers wouldn’t just use the on-board PDR system to record their laps, it’s possible that non-built-in photo and telemetry equipment are required to establish a record run on the ‘Ring.
Regardless, enjoy the video below and click on the images for a larger view!
