Enough is enough. I've seen every fast car in the world go around the Nordschleife, or Nürburgring (Ring), in some astounding amount of time. There is a battle raging as I write to you, between the Corvette guys (ZR1 - 7 mins 26.4 secs) and the Viper guys (ACR - 7 mins 22.1 secs) about who is the greatest Ring ruler of them all. All of this, "Who's the fastest," talk has left the Nissan GT-R (7 mins 29 secs) guys crying like little girls because they're so close, yet so far. All of this arguing has me tired. When did the Ring become the trump card for any car guy to say that their favorite car was superior to any other.
Unless I'm wrong, which I'm not, all this Ring talk really started right after the C6 ZO6 Corvette started lapping the Ring. To give the previous times some perspective the ZO6 did a lap in 7 mins 49 secs, and that's a really fast car.
That's not why I'm writing though. I left a comment on a video on YouTube.com about how the Ring lap times are trite and overplayed (see "Overplayed" blog entry for definition). I put forth the opinion that people are more interested in the lap times on the British Broadcast Company's show Top Gear than Ring times. I won't quote you the details of his response, but it was usual YouTube.com garbage. I think that the technical and hard professional driver numbers are of no use in the real world. Although Top Gear's, The Stig is some sort of professional driver his lap times are a more interesting argument than some dinky little 14 mile track times (insert sarcasm).
Top Gear is a world wide program and has spawned programs in Germany, Australia and, reportedly, America. The show's tame racing driver, The Stig, sets lap times weekly on the show in the world's most expensive cars. The show's hosts are hilarious and entertaining. The lap times are a hard number chaser to the entertainment.
What's the point of a professional driver from Dodge or Chevrolet beating the snot out of a car on the race track if it can't be driven by your average Miami doctor to beat little kids in Hondas?
I take this opportunity now to say that real world/Top Gear driving is more important/interesting than Ring/Motortrend/Car and Driver times. I submit that it's all about how we relate to the numbers. I love seeing professionals do what they do, that's why they're professionals. I would rather argue about the numbers set by a creature in a white racing suit than some dude from Ohio named Jim that only drives Vipers all day long.
P.S. - To fully put the argument between Corvette and Viper to rest, the Corvette has been around for 50 plus year and won numerous prestigous races. The Viper has been around for 10 plus years, not won a thing and is under consideration to be sold by Dodge. So, cheers, Viper fans. Way to put your eggs in the big worthless basket.
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