formula one the pinnacle of motorsport racing fast furious and filled with drama
with some of the world's fastest cars and been at the forefront of multiple road car technologies
it was inevitable that a ride would choose to showcase the speed of these machines
by a roller coaster sadly the ride looking to break
speed records would only be open for four days before getting red flagged
and closing forever this story contains bankruptcy breakdowns corruption an explosion
the nurburgring is a race circuit located near to the town of nurburg in west germany nicknamed
green hell or the ring originally designed in the 1920s to stop people from racing on public roads
the mammoth track is notorious for being one of the longest ever to have an f1 race on it the
meter difference in altitude the track is one of the most famous locations for car fans because
you can turn up with your car and drive on the track over its lifetime many accidents have taken
place on it one of the most famous incidents occurred in 1976 formula one driver for ferrari
nikki louder wanted the race weekend cancelled when he did not think there were enough safety
marshals throughout the 14 mile circuit he wanted the other drivers to protest but he was overruled
and the race went ahead during just the second lap louder crashed and his car turned into a ball of
flames being rescued by his fellow drivers and fire marshals the track and this event features
as part of the 2013 movie rush the nurburgring would not return to the formula one calendar for
numerous years following nikki louder's accident and subsequently the track layout was changed with
courthouse achieving his third consecutive poll he'll lined up second schumacher third and the
only man on slicks on a wet track a lacie back in sixth the nurburgring was used as a venue for the
european grand prix from the late 90s but in 2007 it was announced that the german grand prix would
take place at alternating venues each year between the hockemheim ring and the nurburgring and
michael schumacher exits the last corner of the nurburgring to win gloriously the grand prix of
europe and virtually make certain the 1995 world championship with john alasey in second place
the nurburgring circuit had undergone many changes to the f1 track when it came back
to the calendar in alternating years with the circuit clocking in at just under four miles and
being less dangerous to drive nurburgring's owners wanted to do more than simply just be a racetrack
350 meter long ring boulevard beside the start and finish area you can immerse yourself in the worlds
of the great names among the car manufacturers and accessory specialists and stroke the ferraris
aston martins and the like circuits were trying to diversify their lineups and offer more to attract
not just race fans to the area in the mid 2000s the nurburgring was run by a state-owned company
the owners promised that without using local government funds they would invest via investors
215 million euros turning the nurburgring into a motorsports themed tourist attraction featuring
hotels apartments a shopping mall a 15 000 square meter theme park named ringwork complete with a 4d
cinema a motorsport museum racing simulators bars restaurants nightclubs and the world's fastest
roller coaster that would accelerate from zero to 135 miles per hour in just 2.5 seconds ring racer
still in need of a little more adrenaline need for a speed then compete with the formula one
drivers and the fastest amusement ride in the world and race along the tracks start
and finish at up to 217 kilometers per hour with double the acceleration of formula one
the owners were ambitious to say the least hosting an f1 grand prix was a severe money sink
and they often operate on a loss so they needed more to be done to attract people to the track
they would hopefully satisfy the crowds with this world record beating coaster
other racing tracks have amusement fair rides roll in for event weekends but some offer more the abu
dhabi track yes marina opened ferrari world right next door in 2010 the sochi autodrome
in russia had a park right next door featuring four roller coasters the suzuka track in japan
has a small theme park called mobilityland or moto pia next door to their track which in 1995
operated at the suspended looping coaster called the blackout the park also had a premier rides
ally m launch coaster called mad cobra in 1998 before it was removed to china nurburgring however
would attempt to go far beyond these a launch coaster right outside the formula one track
ring racer will be squeezed between the main grand stand and the starting lights of the pit straight
and would be an sns worldwide of utah compressed air launch coaster aiming to be the fastest in
the world accelerating at twice the speed of a formula one car to beat the records
held at the time by king dakar sns already had experience with compressed air launch coasters
paramount's kings dominion near richmond virginia introduces another breed of scream machine
in which we humans can enjoy our worst fears hypersonic xlc opened in march 2001 claiming
the fastest acceleration of any ride in the world though some might say not good experience
check out that video for more on that's history they would also open the fastest coaster in the
world that held the record for two years with dododompa at fujiku highlands in japan reaching
a top speed of 106.9 miles per hour in 1.8 seconds ring racer would aim to blow the other s and
s rides away with its speed but would only just beat the current top rides of intermittent launch
coasters of kingdom car and top road dragster the ride was to be part of the ringwork theme park
where the entrance will be located the ring work would be a museum with 11 interactive attractions
that focused on different aspects of the nurbur ring and its history it was all set to open in
2009 alongside the new roller coaster some people gave it the nickname nero disney due to the
similarity to eurodisney and the company's attempt to open up the nurburbring to a family audience
estimated to cost 13 million euros and designed by alan schilke ring racer would launch with a
force of 5.6 g's and travel along a 4 000 foot long track running between the grandstands and
the race course reaching maximum acceleration in 2.5 seconds the coaster would accelerate twice
as fast as a formula one single-seater car those which would race right next door at the renowned
grand prix track construction would be complete by july 2009 ready to coincide with the formula
one race weekend their x-style trains themed to formula one cars would have eight riders sat in
rows of two it would leave the station inside the ringwork building and travel to the launch
alongside the start stray of the track where the red start lights went out it would launch to 135
miles per hour up the 125 foot horseshoe turn and back into the ring work building into what
can only be described as a roller coaster tycoon style auto coaster complete straight track with
people able to see the ride from below there is just so much straight track on this ride even
with its 4 000 feet of track it pretty much ended right after the launch that was what was supposed
to happen on ring racer it never actually met any of those world record goals test runs only had the
launch reaching 99 miles per hour some way off the desired record citing technical difficulties with
the nomadic launch system being the cause and not being able to control the break-in was the reasons
given why it was not being launched at full power even with these issues there was an inauguration
of the ride with michael schumacher tennis legend boris becker and the then german prime minister
kurt beck all in attendance they were some of the very first people to ride ring racer the launch
was still only 99 per hour though with the ride closed again after the celebrity soft opening
engineers began to work on the launch to try and get it at full speed there was somewhat
of a race against time to open the ride fully due to ferrari world in abu dhabi having a new
intamin launch coaster called formula rosa this ride would aim to launch at 149 miles per hour
blowing any chance of ring racer coming in first place formula rosa was expected to open in 2010
meaning that ring racer needed to open quickly to get their hands on the world record trophy
in september of 2009 a technical defect during the simulation of an aborted launch occurred
which triggered an explosion in the pneumatic launch system the nurburgring owners claimed that
nobody was injured and just a few windows smashed as a result of the explosion a week later it was
identified that seven people were hurt during the blast with most of them being engineers working on
the ride the ride's world record title defense was over before it even got its hands on the trophy
an investigation discovered that the cause of the explosion was a software bug which meant that the
ride remained closed throughout 2010 and 2011. the ride would no longer become a world record
holder for speed as formula rosa would take the title alongside the difficulties of the ride the
owners of nurburgring were struggling financially the 400 million euro project was not attracting as
many visitors as expected and the owners filed for bankruptcy the owners had insisted that the
ride would open someday and european roller coaster fans had not given up hope there were
announcements of openings throughout the years but none of them would ever come to fruition before
another setback occurred in may 2011. another explosion occurred when the launch system would
send nuts and bolts across the pit lane and main straight of the track this time nobody would be
injured but it seemed like the final nail in the coffin for the ride while this was happening the
eu commission in brussels examined the suspicion of anti-competitive subsidiaries amounted to 524
million euros in relation to the building of the entertainment complex at the nurburgring
way more than the 250 million that the complex was said to have cost with banks withdrawing
from the project the private financing burst the promise of not taking money out of the
state was not true and documents turned out to be forgeries and further had disappeared
the managing director of the nurburgring was dismissed without notice and auditors spoke of
gross negligence a minister was given three and a half years imprisonment for breach of
trust and the owner of the nurburgring was jailed these were tough times for the iconic racetrack
each year rumors continued that the ride would come back to life when the grand prix was in town
each time failing to gain the right certificate of approval from the local government and was unable
to open with the amount of incidents already on a ride that had not opened they wanted to
play it safe there were also issues with the previous owners and that was why the refusal
was constantly given after a marathon of testing in october of 2013 and the change of ownership
along with a lawsuit against the ride manufacturer sms permission for the right to open was granted
now in compliance with safety regulations with vigorous testing the local government declared
ring racer as one of the most tested rides in the world for one weekend only between october 31st to
november 3rd rides could take place daily from 2pm to 5 30pm for the cost of 19.50 euros the entrance
price to ring work now dub the fastest roller coaster in europe racing to 99 miles per hour
faster than an f1 vehicle in two seconds the ride never did get to its previously announced speed of
135 miles per hour this ride experience would last around 90 seconds from the launch to the station
with most of it being straight track on the return through the roof of ringwork the reviews of the
ride after finally opening after four years makes the negative to say the least most complained was
that the ride was boring after the initial launch there is something to be said about racing down
the track next to a formula one start however getting the credit to ride ring racer would be
incredibly rare that november 3rd would be the last day that ringwork would open for the season
after years in planning further year standing not operating few people did get to ride it but after
those four days the ride would never reopen again the company in charge of the nurburgring announced
it was not financially viable to operate the ride in the 2014 season the coaster cars had failed to
get off the start grid for the rest of the year with another change of ownership this time to
german automotive firm capricorn group in 2015 for a figure total and over 100 million euros their
plan was to sell ring racer to a nearby theme park that sale would never happen what park would
want a troublesome sns ride that featured enough straight track that a monorail would be jealous of
the nurbur rings new owners were unable to secure a deal to host the formula one grand
prix in alternating years and the hockenheim ring was going for its own financial troubles rumors
circulated that the rye would come back in the following years but the new owners were focused
on improving other areas of the circuit now after years of troubles the circuit is finally back on
track its racing calendar is full with sporting events such as a 24-hour race classic car events
truck grand prix and the very popular music festival rockham ring which is held annually
at the circuit there has been a new use for ring racer in recent years but not one that
you would be happy for it sits there holding light in to illuminate the nearby lindner hotel
the now again standing but not operating coaster is unchanged apart from being a light fixture with
the tracks still visible through the ring work building and alongside the main track straight
formula 1 returned to the nurburgring in a covered affected 2020 season that was the first time the
track had hosted it since the 2013 caesar ring racer would sit there abandoned right next to
the hustle and bustle of the formula one race will the ride ever reopen its chances are not great the
pride probably wouldn't be removed for a while as it's integrated into the ceiling of the ringwork
building likely to remain standing but not operating as a testament to the era of corruption
bankruptcy false promises and false starts a rye which will likely be black flagged for the rest
of existence while nurburgring is stepping back to its racing routes there are other circuits around
the world hoping to offer more with one of them being at the circuit of americas in austin texas
it currently operates with over 20 rides and recently announced a first of its kind gerslauer
infinity shuttle coaster coming in the future let's hope things go slightly better for them
the ring racer was an exciting prospect the fastest roller coaster in the world right next
to a formula one track sadly this roller coaster was one that would never achieve its promise
seen by many as a major failure however without taking risk and failure many many
exciting attractions would never come to be and those barriers or records would never be broken
something that the sns company has continued to attempt multiple times throughout its existence
trying new ways to create something thrilling complete with failures and successes are plenty
i'm stan checketts i've been privileged to design and build a lot of wonderful thrill rides close to
200 towers and coasters all over the world and to date i think we're close to a billion people been
thrilled on our rides and i used to really want to know what was in people's head i'd go interview
do you like what you do no you don't what do you do i work and go home drink a beer and go
to bed and i thought that is not going to be what i want to do during the writing of this
expedition the man behind sns stan check it sadly passed away no matter where you read who you talk
to or if you have ever met anyone who knows stan you will find stories of his first her adventure
warmth and passion he is behind many of the incredible attractions loved by millions around
the world and while a few of those attempts to create something new didn't work out
like ring racer as standard it's important to look at the positives i don't like to think of
ring racer hypersonic or any troubled riders failures but experiments to try and create
something new paved the way for innovation stan check it is an icon in the amusement park industry
who took risks trying to give not only himself but millions of others bigger and better thrills
thank you so much for watching this episode of expedition extinct
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