Watch The Storage 56 Le Mans Camaro Rip Round VIR With Jordan Taylor At The Wheel

There have been a whole lot of unimaginable race automobiles working round tracks in 2023, from new Le Mans prototypes like Ferrari’s profitable 499P to hybrid WRC monsters and the second yr of Components 1’s redesigned automobiles. However one race automobile captured the world’s consideration greater than anything: the NASCAR-based Storage 56 Chevy Camaro that competed at Le Mans. Hendrick Motorsports wasn’t happy with simply racing on the famed French circuit, so it introduced the Camaro to Automobile And Driver’s yearly Lightning Lap competitors at Virginia Worldwide Raceway.

In case you’re not acquainted, the Storage 56 Camaro is mainly a next-gen NASCAR with some aerodynamic modifications that made it appropriate for endurance racing, and regardless of a transaxle failure, it was in a position to full 285 laps of Le Mans and end after the total 24 hours. At Lightning Lap it was piloted by Jordan Taylor, a longtime IMSA racer who has received the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, positioned first in a number of championships and has a pleasant alter-ego named Rodney Sandstorm.

Taylor’s 2:26.7 lap time didn’t fairly nab the general report — that crown was taken by Subaru’s Airslayer gymkhana automobile with a time of two:25.6 — its common velocity of 158.5 mph was over 20 mph sooner than any road automobile C/D has lapped, and virtually 6 mph sooner than the Subie. The Camaro’s time can also be almost ten seconds faster than C/D’s street-car report, a lap of two:34.9 set by a McLaren Senna in 2019.

As a part of the Lightning Lap protection Taylor sat down with C/D to speak about his expertise driving the automobile at VIR, which you’ll be able to watch within the video above that features footage of the lap each with and with out his commentary. He offers some nice perception into how a lot enjoyable the automobile was to drive and why it was in a position to go so freakin’ quick. Taylor says Lighting Lap is likely to be one of many newest aggressive issues the Storage 56 automobile ever does, which is a rattling disgrace, however at the least we’ll all the time have this video.