Jim Mero: A conversation with the once (and future?) King of the ‘Ring

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On June 26, 2008, after five weeks of hit-and-miss weather, testing and tuning, on the fourth lap of a stint around Germany’s legendary Nurburgring Nordscheife, General Motors engineer and test driver Jim Mero set a new track record for a production car in a bone-stock Chevrolet Corvette ZR1: 7:26.4. Score one for the home team.

To see the lap record run, click here.

The ‘Ring lap time record has become the most coveted bragging right among performance cars, with good reason. The 13-mile, 100-corner Green Hell, in the picturesque Eiffel Mountains, is the most demanding track in the world, requiring of cars that would conquer it a complete suite of attributes: enormous top-end speed, low-speed handling and grip, drivability combined with hard-edged, flat-track cornering, excellent dynamic balance and braking.

To test there costs hundreds of thousands of dollars; to go after the lap record, a whole other level of cost and commitment. Asked about the economics of that, Mero said: ‘These days, there’s no way GM would let us do this unless the car made a profit.’

According to Mero, it all began with GM. ‘For us it all started when the first Cadillac CTS came out [in 2002]. Cadillac wanted to excel in Europe. Well, if you’re going to sell in Europe you have to run good at the Nurburgring.’

Mero, 47, was with the Corvette team that subsequently took the Z06 to the ‘Ring. ‘Suddenly an American car was over there laying down lap times and then things started getting crazy. Now it’s taken on a life of its own.’

In May, the mark had been laid down by Nissan’s obscenely fast GT-R, which had turned a 7.29 (the record’s authenticity has been challenged by Porsche, which had the previous record of 7.32 with the Porsche GT2). Mero and the ZR1 team had the 7.29 mark as a bogie when they began testing in April. ‘Clearly we wanted to beat it,’ said Mero.

When the team radioed him in the cockpit, Mero says, ‘My first thought was that I couldn’t believe it was a [7]26.4.’ Mero says he cleanly goofed several low-speed turns in the early part of the lap and one big one as the tires began to go away near the end of the lap.

Mero has been with GM for 14 years; while he is obviously very quick in a car, his racing experience has been confined to amateur open-wheel and NASCAR late-model circle track competition. Observers of the video have questioned whether another driver -- perhaps Johnny O’Connell or Jan Magnussen, who drive for Corvette’s ALMS team -- would have been faster. Perhaps, Mero allows, but the pro drivers are busy people. ‘It would have taken Johnny or Jan two weeks to find the sweet spot of the car,’ and they have other commitments. Mero also notes that he now has hundreds of laps on the Nordscheife. ‘The track does intimidate,’ Mero says, smiling. ‘Johnny says I lack the self-preservation gene.’

Even so, Mero acknowledges that he has yet to put together a perfect lap.

‘The car is capable of at least 7.24.50,’ says Mero. ‘There’s more left on the table.’

Good thing, too, since in August a team from Dodge’s Street and Racing Technology (SRT) team carted a Dodge Viper ACR (the race-prepped version of the car) and promptly put down a 7.22.1 with Dutch rally driver Tom Coronel behind the wheel.

All motorsports glory, Mero knows, is fleeting.

-- Dan Neil

Photo credits: Dan Neil