Aaron Link didn’t just help design and engineer the all-new Corvette ZR1. As global vehicle performance manager of Chevrolet Performance Cars, Link leads the team of development engineers whose expert evaluations made sure the 1,064-hp ZR1 was not only the fastest car ever built by an American auto manufacturer, but also a joy to drive. He oversaw the herculean effort that resulted in this ZR1 setting five new production-car lap records at racetracks across the U.S.
Oh, and he set two of those records himself.
With Link at the wheel, the ZR1 nailed down a 1:47.7 lap on the 3.27-mile Full Course at Virginia International Raceway, the configuration used in IMSA sports-car racing. That lap time obliterated the reigning production-car record of 1:51.3, set by the previous-generation C7 Corvette ZR1 in 2018.
The next day, Link got back in the C8 ZR1 and ripped a 2:32.3 on the 4.20-mile Grand Course, a 2.6-second improvement on the previous production-car record-holder, an extremely limited-production British supercar costing nearly $1 million. (The new ZR1, for reference, stickers at just under $175,000.)
“It’s bragging rights for our customers and our company, to be honest,” says Link. “In this car segment, that means a lot.”
Aaron Link, global vehicle performance manager of Chevrolet Performance Cars, stands with the Corvette ZR1 at Virginia International Raceway.
When the Corvette engineering team set out to earn production-car lap records at four American racetracks, Link knew exactly who to call. “We had four seasoned drivers who primarily worked on this car," he says. “We’re all pretty accomplished and have proven that over the years. It would have been very difficult to choose only one person who would have the honor to do this, so four drivers for four venues felt perfect.”
All four drivers came from the Chevrolet Performance Car division. Bill Wise, chassis controls technical lead performance engineer, drove Watkins Glen International. Brian Wallace, lead vehicle dynamics engineer and lead high-performance driving instructor, handled Road America. Chris Barber, Corvette ZR1 lead development engineer, took Road Atlanta. That left Link to attempt VIR’s Full Course and Grand Course.
“VIR was always my hope,” Link says. “I went to school at Virginia Tech, two-and-a-half hours away, so I always had this connection to the track and this region. It feels like a track set in the middle of a state park. I love the feel of it.”
And it worked out as planned: “On our last development trip there, I was the fastest. This track suits my driving style.”
By the time Link showed up at VIR in December 2024, the ZR1 had already nabbed three of the five intended lap records: Watkins Glen in September, Road America in October, and Road Atlanta in November. “Bill, Brian, and Chris had done their jobs flawlessly, and I was the anchor leg who could complete this full story,” he says. “Luckily, the car had just been dominating everywhere.”
Link had been to VIR a year before, with a ZR1 prototype that was still being tuned. On an unofficial, development pace lap, he’d pretty much matched the reigning production-car record without really trying. “That took some pressure off,” he says. “This told us that we weren’t just going to clip these records, we had a chance to smash them.”
VIR Full Course: 3.27 miles, 17 turns.
In December, when it was time for an official lap-record attempt, Link started with VIR’s Full Course. The shorter of the two configurations, it’s still a monster, with 17 turns to master. The longer Grand Course has drivers veer off halfway down the back straightaway to tackle a brace of additional, highly technical curves. On the Full Course, cars sprint the full length of the back straight, reaching speeds that can be punishing to human and machine.
“VIR is arguably one of our best development tracks,” Link says. “Low speed, high speed, tight corners, elevation, off-camber, on-camber – it really does give you everything you need to measure the greatness of a car in one lap.”
Of course, going for a lap time is a different exercise compared to what development drivers usually do. “Development driving is all about consistency,” Link says. “We can’t just drive around like grandma because that doesn’t test the car, but it’s not exactly qualifying either. You need to bring the car back in one piece. There aren’t many times when you can lock in and just send it like this.”
When Link went for his first full-speed timed lap on VIR’s Full Course, he immediately knew he had a shot at the record.
Corvette ZR1 climbing the “esses” at VIR.
“The way we’ve engineered and developed this car, there’s a comfort factor that you wouldn’t expect in a rear-wheel-drive car with 1,064 horsepower,” he says. “When you click in with this car, it doesn’t bite you. It’s very friendly. There’s a progressivity that almost defies physics and logic. I think that’s part of why all of four of us set our records damn near on the first try.”
Both configurations of VIR include notoriously tricky corners. “The hardest turn to get right for me is South Bend” – officially, Turn 10, a harrowing high-speed left that shoots you into a slow double right-hander. “You can haul the mail right up until South Bend. Getting it exactly right without running out of track on the exit is hard. It falls away. It’s a blind, downhill, off camber exit, so if you’ve overcommitted on entry, it’s not going to end well.”
Another big-risk, big-reward section of VIR happens to be Link’s favorite part of the lap. “The high-speed climbing esses are iconic,” he says. Turns 7, 8 and 9 form a left-right-left-right slalom that demands guts from the driver and grip from the car. “Looking back through the lap data, I didn’t even want to look at the speed because it was bonkers,” Link says. “The aerodynamic performance of the ZR1 is phenomenal. The ability to turn in hard at 167 mph into this tricky segment and not feel like I was on the edge of control was brilliant and extremely rewarding – it held on perfectly.”
VIR Grand Course: 4.20 miles, 28 turns
The Full Course record fell on the first day of timed laps. On the second day, Link turned his focus to the monstrous 28-turn Grand Course.
“I didn’t think it was in the cards because of the extreme nature of the prior record holder, to be honest,” he says. But after a few practice laps, Link went out for a flyer ... and ended up knocking down the Grand Course record. With every subsequent lap, he shaved more time off his previous best. That day, he ended up beating the reigning lap record by 2.6 seconds, a lifetime on a racetrack.
Nabbing back-to-back lap records was a victory for Link, but more than anything, he’s proud that the ZR1 took home five production-car track records with GM development drivers at the wheel. “The capability we collectively demonstrated speaks volumes to our driver training and certification program,” he says. “We’ve cultivated this group of people, and it grows every year. We’re always finding new people that have the aspirations and the talent to keep this going. It’s the ultimate proof case for the GM driver certification process being second to none.”
He’s also proud of what this accomplishment says about the entire Corvette family. “These lap time records, to me, prove how well-rounded the C8 is,” he says. “The ZR1 has insane performance capability, and it’s built by General Motors on the same assembly line as the Stingray. It’s not a low-volume, one-off special.” He points out that the C8 didn’t give up any of its creature comforts in the transformation to ZR1. Says Link: “That wouldn’t really be the Corvette formula.”
By Bob Sorokanich, editorial producer and writer, GM News
The Corvette ZR1 at Virginia International Raceway.
Aaron Link didn’t just help design and engineer the all-new Corvette ZR1. As global vehicle performance manager of Chevrolet Performance Cars, Link leads the team of development engineers whose expert evaluations made sure the 1,064-hp ZR1 was not only the fastest car ever built by an American auto manufacturer, but also a joy to drive. He oversaw the herculean effort that resulted in this ZR1 setting five new production-car lap records at racetracks across the U.S.
Oh, and he set two of those records himself.
With Link at the wheel, the ZR1 nailed down a 1:47.7 lap on the 3.27-mile Full Course at Virginia International Raceway, the configuration used in IMSA sports-car racing. That lap time obliterated the reigning production-car record of 1:51.3, set by the previous-generation C7 Corvette ZR1 in 2018.
The next day, Link got back in the C8 ZR1 and ripped a 2:32.3 on the 4.20-mile Grand Course, a 2.6-second improvement on the previous production-car record-holder, an extremely limited-production British supercar costing nearly $1 million. (The new ZR1, for reference, stickers at just under $175,000.)
“It’s bragging rights for our customers and our company, to be honest,” says Link. “In this car segment, that means a lot.”
Aaron Link, global vehicle performance manager of Chevrolet Performance Cars, stands with the Corvette ZR1 at Virginia International Raceway.
When the Corvette engineering team set out to earn production-car lap records at four American racetracks, Link knew exactly who to call. “We had four seasoned drivers who primarily worked on this car," he says. “We’re all pretty accomplished and have proven that over the years. It would have been very difficult to choose only one person who would have the honor to do this, so four drivers for four venues felt perfect.”
All four drivers came from the Chevrolet Performance Car division. Bill Wise, chassis controls technical lead performance engineer, drove Watkins Glen International. Brian Wallace, lead vehicle dynamics engineer and lead high-performance driving instructor, handled Road America. Chris Barber, Corvette ZR1 lead development engineer, took Road Atlanta. That left Link to attempt VIR’s Full Course and Grand Course.
“VIR was always my hope,” Link says. “I went to school at Virginia Tech, two-and-a-half hours away, so I always had this connection to the track and this region. It feels like a track set in the middle of a state park. I love the feel of it.”
And it worked out as planned: “On our last development trip there, I was the fastest. This track suits my driving style.”
By the time Link showed up at VIR in December 2024, the ZR1 had already nabbed three of the five intended lap records: Watkins Glen in September, Road America in October, and Road Atlanta in November. “Bill, Brian, and Chris had done their jobs flawlessly, and I was the anchor leg who could complete this full story,” he says. “Luckily, the car had just been dominating everywhere.”
Link had been to VIR a year before, with a ZR1 prototype that was still being tuned. On an unofficial, development pace lap, he’d pretty much matched the reigning production-car record without really trying. “That took some pressure off,” he says. “This told us that we weren’t just going to clip these records, we had a chance to smash them.”
VIR Full Course: 3.27 miles, 17 turns.
In December, when it was time for an official lap-record attempt, Link started with VIR’s Full Course. The shorter of the two configurations, it’s still a monster, with 17 turns to master. The longer Grand Course has drivers veer off halfway down the back straightaway to tackle a brace of additional, highly technical curves. On the Full Course, cars sprint the full length of the back straight, reaching speeds that can be punishing to human and machine.
“VIR is arguably one of our best development tracks,” Link says. “Low speed, high speed, tight corners, elevation, off-camber, on-camber – it really does give you everything you need to measure the greatness of a car in one lap.”
Of course, going for a lap time is a different exercise compared to what development drivers usually do. “Development driving is all about consistency,” Link says. “We can’t just drive around like grandma because that doesn’t test the car, but it’s not exactly qualifying either. You need to bring the car back in one piece. There aren’t many times when you can lock in and just send it like this.”
When Link went for his first full-speed timed lap on VIR’s Full Course, he immediately knew he had a shot at the record.
Corvette ZR1 climbing the “esses” at VIR.
“The way we’ve engineered and developed this car, there’s a comfort factor that you wouldn’t expect in a rear-wheel-drive car with 1,064 horsepower,” he says. “When you click in with this car, it doesn’t bite you. It’s very friendly. There’s a progressivity that almost defies physics and logic. I think that’s part of why all of four of us set our records damn near on the first try.”
Both configurations of VIR include notoriously tricky corners. “The hardest turn to get right for me is South Bend” – officially, Turn 10, a harrowing high-speed left that shoots you into a slow double right-hander. “You can haul the mail right up until South Bend. Getting it exactly right without running out of track on the exit is hard. It falls away. It’s a blind, downhill, off camber exit, so if you’ve overcommitted on entry, it’s not going to end well.”
Another big-risk, big-reward section of VIR happens to be Link’s favorite part of the lap. “The high-speed climbing esses are iconic,” he says. Turns 7, 8 and 9 form a left-right-left-right slalom that demands guts from the driver and grip from the car. “Looking back through the lap data, I didn’t even want to look at the speed because it was bonkers,” Link says. “The aerodynamic performance of the ZR1 is phenomenal. The ability to turn in hard at 167 mph into this tricky segment and not feel like I was on the edge of control was brilliant and extremely rewarding – it held on perfectly.”
VIR Grand Course: 4.20 miles, 28 turns
The Full Course record fell on the first day of timed laps. On the second day, Link turned his focus to the monstrous 28-turn Grand Course.
“I didn’t think it was in the cards because of the extreme nature of the prior record holder, to be honest,” he says. But after a few practice laps, Link went out for a flyer ... and ended up knocking down the Grand Course record. With every subsequent lap, he shaved more time off his previous best. That day, he ended up beating the reigning lap record by 2.6 seconds, a lifetime on a racetrack.
Nabbing back-to-back lap records was a victory for Link, but more than anything, he’s proud that the ZR1 took home five production-car track records with GM development drivers at the wheel. “The capability we collectively demonstrated speaks volumes to our driver training and certification program,” he says. “We’ve cultivated this group of people, and it grows every year. We’re always finding new people that have the aspirations and the talent to keep this going. It’s the ultimate proof case for the GM driver certification process being second to none.”
He’s also proud of what this accomplishment says about the entire Corvette family. “These lap time records, to me, prove how well-rounded the C8 is,” he says. “The ZR1 has insane performance capability, and it’s built by General Motors on the same assembly line as the Stingray. It’s not a low-volume, one-off special.” He points out that the C8 didn’t give up any of its creature comforts in the transformation to ZR1. Says Link: “That wouldn’t really be the Corvette formula.”
