Two General Motors employees learned the hard way this week when they were arrested for "racing" two new C8 Corvettes in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

According to Kentucky State Police, a trooper stopped Alexander Thim and Mark Derkatz on the evening of Wednesday, January 8, on Lovers Lane in Bowling Green, for exceeding the posted 45-mph speed limit by more than 26 mph, reckless driving, and racing motor vehicles on a public road.

Not yet been able to verify just how much higher than 71 mph the cars were traveling when police nailed them and hauled the drivers away.
Exceeding the speed limit by 26 mph is simply Kentucky's standard under its driver's license points system to trigger a hearing and a possible suspension
it does not mean the cars were clocked at precisely 71 mph, or 26 mph more than the posted 45-mph limit.

According to the employees profiles,
Thim is a CAE (computer aided engineering) engineer working on induction and exhaust systems, & Merkatz is an electrical engineer.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident.

GM Statement :

"We are aware of an incident involving our test vehicles and are currently investigating," GM noted in a statement provided.
"Safety remains our overriding priority at General Motors.
We have no further comment at this time."

As for the Corvettes, police enlisted two towing companies to remove them from the scene and deposit them at a tow lot,
where a police representative said the vehicles were collected the next day "by the owner," presumably representatives of General Motors.

Per GM's statement, it is unknown whether Thim and Merkatz remain employed with the company.

The situation is particularly embarrassing for the Corvette brand, as it is tied closely to the Bowling Green community:
The city is home to Chevrolet's Corvette manufacturing plant

From the ticket/ citation of Thim:

Observed (3) total 2020 Corvettes turn from Scottsville Road onto Ken Bale Blvd and accelerate heavily.

While observing the Corvettes, all 3 made a left turn onto Middle Bridge Road and then a right onto Lovers lane.

The above (Red) Corvette accelerated heavily in the left lane on Lovers Lane and achieved a speed of 120 MPH in the posted 45 MPH zone. Night conditions.

The White Corvette was stopped in the right lane and achieved a top speed of 100 MPH.

The last Corvette (Blue) was driven by a witness and did not participate in the race.

The Corvettes were observed at speed from the intersection of Middle Bridge until the traffic stop was conducted at Olde Towne Blvd.

The odor of an alcoholic beverage was present on the breath of the operator. PBT detected presence of alcohol.

The party stated that they were all familiar with each other and were employees of GM.
The individuals had been at “Que Time” before contact was made this date.

GM owns all Corvettes involved.

Speed was detected visually and confirmed by same direction, moving radar.
Stalker DSR 2x radar was calibrated before this shift.

Update :

The two General Motors engineers recently arrested for racing a pair of 2020 Chevrolet Corvettes in Bowling Green appear to be no longer working for the car manufacturer.

On January 8, Chevrolet employees Alexander Thim & Mark Derkatz were arrested on Lovers Lane in Bowling Green for exceeding the 45 mph speed limit by well over 26 mph, which in Kentucky, triggers a court hearing.
27-year-old Thim was reportedly caught driving at 120 mph while 30-year-old Derkatz was driving at 100 mph

A search on LinkedIn indicates that both men have either lost or quit their jobs for General Motors.

Thim’s profile says that he is now looking for an engineering job having “previously worked at General Motors launching the new 2020 Corvette as the chassis/powertrain issue resolution team.”

Similarly, the profile of Derkatz includes his complete resume where he states that he stopped working for General Motors in January 2020.