The Abandoned Roller Coaster on a Formula 1 Track - The Troubled History of Nürburgring's Ring Racer

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Hamilton or Verstappen? Let me know what expeditions you would like to see in 2022! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for updates on upcomign episodes. twitter.com/exptheme instagram.com/expeditionthemepark

[@sxg0017]

Hamilton. Hands down.

[@Iamthelolrus]

Hamilton. First F1 race I've ever watched, likely the last(more of an endurance racing fan), the man was robbed... hell, I felt robbed of the time I spent watching the race. Crap missed the first half of the video coming up with this, rewind...

[@godzamoongus]

Verstappen all the way

[@mariefryzelkova7927]

I am old fart so I say Schumacher.

[@katashworth41]

Neither.

[@annalisahartmann5661]

The fact it exploded more than once has a real RCT feel to it

[@tgustafson85]

"I'm not going on RING°RACER - It isn't safe."

[@MagicKillerClub]

A wonderful tribute and dedication to Stan. He really changed the landscape of theme parks and rides with what he did. A true pioneer. RIP.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Agreed!

[@lowercase.]

as a motorsports fan who always wondered about this seemingly (and i guess literally) abandoned rollercoaster, its great to see it all clearly presented in such a good video, great job on this :)

[@TDM1138]

Didn’t know about this one, and it’s certainly oddity. Also helped me get through the work day a little bit easier, your videos are always entertaining to listen to.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

I hope you have a easy day at work!

[@Gigidag77]

Rode it. First public train followed by a radio station interview. When I heard it was going to open for a few days, I stopped there on my way to my boyfriend. The launch was just out of this world and totally made up for the rest of the ride. ♥️ Wich I could ride it one more time. 😔 I can only imagine how crazy it would have been with it's originally targeted speed

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

lucky!!

[@merlingrisu]

I also rode it but not in the the first day. It was either the second or third.

[@zodayn]

They could have added a barrelroll instead of straight track to make the layout somewhat more interesting. Seeing a rollercoaster car do a twist right over your head is more exciting and it would have hardly taken up more space. Oh and use a magnetic launch and maybe not be corrupt of course.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

that would of been cool

[@jasonhook3884]

Candy and nuts, bro, candy and nuts.

[@WynnofThule]

Premier Magnetic launch would have been goated.

[@janmcguire5268]

Thank you for the tribute to Stan. Well done. It’s a shame ring racer never got to be what it was meant to be, but hopefully lessons were learned that will help future projects succeed.

[@patrickkenworthy7454]

Not sure how much you know about F1, but as a fan, you can clearly tell youve done your research, another incredible video!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you!

[@AnotherSwissYoutubeUser]

I really hope this coaster opens again someday, maybe they can open the coaster for high attendance events. Events like the Festival, when races are happening. I really want that credit.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Would be nice!

[@stellaVista]

@@ExpeditionThemePark It will never open! State regulation demands that a huge, mobile crane with skilled rescue personnel would be parked underneath the turnaround during all operating hours, in case the train would stall at the highest point. Of course this is more than unlikely to happen, but you can only guess the ridiculous cost for rent and wages.

[@huetobi]

@@stellaVista I have never heard of such a regulation in Germany and if that regulation is a thing why wouldn't it apply to other launch coasters such as Karacho, blue Fire or desert race? I haven't seen a crane next to those it wouldn't make sense to have one anyways since stalls like that are incredibly uncommon.

[@Pixelplanet5]

@@huetobi because other coasters dont have the problem of being stuck upside down somewhere on the track.

[@Justin_0241]

if they put this coaster back again Intamin would modify the launch system or fix it

[@Cyber_Chriis]

I live ~30 minutes away from the Ring and I’m one of the few people who got to ride it. The launch was awesome! But there were already breakes before the turn that ruined the feeling after the launch… All the facts presented are 100% correct. Great research!

[@dangonzalez8924]

I visited the Ring back in 2010 and was hoping the ride would be open but I wasn't too bummed out. Driving on the track was far more fun anyway.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Glad to got to go!

[@shapejaper4]

@@ExpeditionThemePark don’t you mean you?

[@JulianDale94]

One of the most spectacular fails in coaster history. I remember telling my friends in middle school that some German coaster was about to take the speed record. When I finally saw a POV I was like "I got excited for THIS??"

[@jaydennicholls441]

Honestly, they could fit a giant airtime hill before the horseshoe turn, I think it’s be much interesting.

[@robinferket1059]

@@jaydennicholls441 they couldn´t, bcs it would block the view of the grandstands

[@stevenmacdonald9619]

Screw this ride for a comment. I was brought up on an amusement/theme park and without the inventions of Stan Checketts, the 21st Century would have been pretty dull and wooden. Thank you for telling us about his passing Expedition Theme Park, I wouldn't have known otherwise. That piece you put at the end was really classy, and beautifully done. A fitting tribute to the man. I don't think it would be an abuse of timing for you to make a full story of his life. I'm sure all of your subscribers would like a bigger story on a man that was bigger than life. Lump in the throat. RIP Stan Checketts (1941-2022) Launch to wherever you want to go now Sir.

[@tyrannoyoshi]

I gotta admit, the opening looked like the opening to a trailer for a big budget action movie and I love it.

[@medea27]

We don't have enough people in the world like Stan Checketts... with the passion & drive to _create_ fun, to make people's day a little brighter. RIP Stan 🤍 And as a big motorsport & hard rock fan, the _Rock am Ring_ festival has been on the 'must-go' list for years... thankfully it's been a bigger success for Nürburgring than the coaster! 🤘😎

[@markymark-r]

I visited The Ring 3 years ago. Sad sight seeing this abandoned but it did look a pretty boring layout to be honest. 😆

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Ahah yeah

[@Happymali10]

@@ExpeditionThemePark It's been compared to a very small version of rides like Superman: Escape from Krypton, you get a strong acceleration, it goes steeply up, back down, the end. But honestly...I'm glad that they put the coaster on the backburner and diverted money to keep the track operational. The whole thing was kind of a mess, paying for an amusement park that no one saw any market chances for with tax-money when there are large established parks not that far away.

[@MrChimpeh]

@@Happymali10 when I was last at the track on a “normal” day (no racing just tourist laps around the old circuit (I don’t want to butcher the name), the tourist area was fairly deserted maybe a few hundred people walking around, doing karting etc. Not enough for the upkeep of this ride. Most people go to the track, spend a day/half a day there either end up on the back of a flatbed or drive to their hotel/go home.

[@Happymali10]

@@MrChimpeh "Nordschleife" The smaller track the coaster is at is the "GP-Kurs"

[@utahcoasterenthusiasts]

Enjoyed! Especially the great tribute to Stan Checketts. I got speak with him a few times over the years. He will be missed.

[@tufab3494]

I've already ridden Blackout here in Brazil (FireWhip - Beto Carrero World) , excelent coaster considering it's a SLC. Btw, nice video! Very well done as always.

[@ThemeparkAdventures]

I was om the last ride ever of Ring Racer. What a great look at the interesting history of this ride. I consider myself really lucky to have rode it, having 4 rides on the last day of operation. The launch was absolutely incredible, the turnaround was okey, and the long way back a bit dule, but the unbanked turn just before the breakrun was fun. I was on the last ride of the day and when leaving the park we joked about that we would have the last ride ever if it never opened again. Sadly, that joke turned out to be true.

[@michaeltaylor1603]

Great "soap opera" story! To bad the "gRaSp" fell short of the Reach! I don't remember If I ever met Stan @ my many IAAPA Expo visits. Ride designers are a special "lot". The greatest reward are smiles on peoples faces young & old and them wanting to get back in line to experience the thrill again! We will miss you Stan! Your legacy will live on. Thank YOU Expedition for a wonderful video! Monorail"envy" PRICELESS!!!

[@DenverMcQuaid]

As a major roller coaster AND F1 fan I am both THRILLED to see this video and so sad to hear the story

[@motorsandcoasters]

SAME

[@tocsa120ls]

As a somewhat regular visitor to the 'ring, I can confirm, that coaster has never worked in the last 9 years. The whole building is like an abandoned shopping mall, there is a tattoo studio, two shops that sell helmets and fireproof gloves, a buffet, another buffet, and... nothing else. I looks shoddily thrown together - bare concrete, no waterproofing, no toplayer; the concrete (as you would expect with unprotected stuff) already started spalling, you see rebar rusting here and there. It will need a restoration in another 15 years or be torn down. At least the roof isn't leaking too bad, so when the floods hit the region, the building was used as a storage depot for the donations.

[@zanewebb2665]

From what I hear the new operators of the Nurburgring have a lot of things to do to get the facility back to where they wanted it they stated they do wish to reopen ring racer someday but there are a lot of things to be prioritized ahead of it good thing S&S has worked out the kinks with the air launch now and could go back and restore it

[@mlipkin6708]

Formula 1, roller coaster, and Expedition Theme Park...this is like a triple threat of awesome video.

[@HopeBromley]

It’s cool you mentioned the new coaster coming to Cota (Circuit of the Americas), as I live in Austin. I’m only about 12 miles from the track and was attending almost all races there annually pre-Covid. Last one was NASCAR last spring and it was so busy. The new coaster is gonna add so much more next to the Cota-Karting track we got over there. Keep up all the awesome vids. I love your channel!

[@RayTX1337]

As a German I have been following the odyssey surrounding the Nürburgring all my life. The problem is that the race track started caring more about entertainment around racing, instead of sticking with its unique flair. Nobody really gave a shit about the rollercoaster. Either you visit the place because you care about cars, or you are not visiting at all. Rollercoasters belong into theme parks, not next to race tracks.

[@DisneyMarkUK]

It’s crazy to see it just sitting there, I wonder if it’ll just stay there forever now. Cheers Sam

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Hope you are well MArk!

[@DisneyMarkUK]

@@ExpeditionThemePark I’m smashing thanks Sam, hope you are too. We’re even thinking of a Summer trip to Florida! Woooo Hoooo!

[@Happymali10]

Technically the "Nürburgring" is just the small GP-course, the long track you described is the "Nordschleife"

[@CoasterHour]

Incredible video on one of the more unique troubled coasters in history. Also appreciate the Stan Checketts tribute, never got the chance to meet him but I’ve heard he was an amazing person and he of course was a pioneer in the amusement industry so I was sad to hear he had passed.

[@Pixelplanet5]

one correction for the history of the Nürburgring. It was not build to stop street racing as the main goal, it was build specifically in this area because it was an underdeveloped rural area with barely any work available. Building the ring first gave them many years of work just for construction and then also allowed other business opportunities once the ring was operational.

[@wynonnamareeuy]

Came for the theme park expedition, stayed for the history of a F1 race tack. Though I will admit that Rush didn’t a good job in depicting Niki Lauda and James Hunt’s relationship (they focused too on putting them against each other for my taste instead of being good friends and friendly rivals on the track) among many things, it might be the reason why I will skip out on it.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thanks!

[@cadendicky1855]

I kinda feel like more risks like these should be taken, having a small amusement park in a track would be pretty neat in my opinion.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Agreed!

[@eins2001]

I know Circuit de la Sarthe has a few rides that operate during 24 Heures du Mans

[@120420]

I was one of those people that got to ride it. I'll never forget it and always cherish it. Great Video ETP. Liked & Subscribed!!!

[@Coaster_Crazy]

R.I.P Stan !!!!! Another great video, hope the coaster does open again in the future as I want the cred

[@johnfoltz8183]

Also known as Straight Track Section: The Ride

[@Sozitante]

i totally loving that you do more parks and coaster in other countries like germany. There are so many storys here that wait to be told

[@rmannayr2129]

WOW A THEME PARK BASED ON FORMULA ONE!

[@mykreevesofficial]

"A rollercoaster with enough straight track, that a monorail would be jealous of." My favourite line of this video.

[@chaseman113]

Dang, this thing barely lasted longer then the Orphan Rocker. Jokes aside, I enjoy the context you put behind on not just the actual Roller Coaster, but WHY a roller coaster is put in & then how it failed.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

it is true!

[@classiccoasters800]

I have been watching your channel since the beginning, and to see you use one of my videos was quite the thrill! I am glad that the old Mad Cobra POV finally became useful!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so so much!!

[@tfromcleveland3741]

To the stars through hardships. Great video, great tribute!

[@JReaLBiz86]

If my memory serves me, When F1 raced at the Nurburgring in the 70s they ran on the Nordschleife, or "Northern loop", exclusively. The Nurburgring GP circuit, which is what F1 uses today, was built years after Lauda's crash in '76. They no longer race on the Nordschleife in Formula 1, although there are plenty of racing series which run the full circuit (the GP circuit as well as the Nordschleife), including a 24 hour event which happens annually. The Nordschleife is the part of the course people bring their cars to for a "track day", where they can drive at their own pace (and risk) around the circuit. There also used to be a Sudschleife (Southern loop) as part of the track, which has since been closed off from the circuit entirely and is now public roads. I'm kind of a big motorsports fan lol like you said, pretty much any fan of auto racing knows about the Nurburgring. Insane that they built a roller coaster there.

[@ChrisVaughanCTV]

A lovely and fitting tribute at the end. Great video pal

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you, RIP Stan

[@cadet8376]

two of my favorite things together in a video, great job

[@shamrock6975]

R.I.P. Stan Checketts 1941-2022

[@richardking2762]

As an F-1 fan I really enjoyed this one. Cheers Sam.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you Richard!

[@thegamester1426]

Not sure if you’re a fan or not, but if you’re not it’s nice to see someone include F1 in their video and not butcher everything they mention about it. Great video!

[@MustachioFurioso9134]

F1 and Expedition Theme Park?! A match made in heaven. Lights out and away we go!

[@hsvforeverfan]

The Nürburgring is under 1 hour away from my home town. Unfortunately, is wasn’t able to ride the Ring Racer in 2013. But some of my friends rode it. Also, I haven’t been there since they build the Ringwerk. I visited the visited the visitor complex before the Ringwerk. It was called Erlebniswelt am Nürburgring and I really enjoyed as a child. It was enough for the amount of visitors at the Nürburgring. Greetings from Nils

[@katherinealvarez9216]

10:37 I'm guessing that initial statement about no one got hurt was either mistaken or just straight up lying.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

yuppppp

[@mariefryzelkova7927]

Expedition Theme Park about F1 themed atraction at Ring. Looks like my birthday came early this year 😁

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

The dream team!

[@DSB1234567890]

Possibly the ultimate rare credit along with Brava? (a short "coaster" meant to be an art installation at a museum in Massachusetts, limited to 1 rider per hour)

[@matthijsblomjous3671]

on our way home from our holiday in Austria we passed by the nurburgring and as an f1 fan I really wanted to stop by. Entrance to the boulevard was free and aside from a merch store there was absolutely nothing to do there lol. It was kinda sad

[@Kevle110]

Great Video! I am from Germany and was so hyped for this ride.

[@oneandonlysound3453]

If they got someone else to redo the launch, and perhaps altered a piece of the straight area inside to a double twisting line of inversions it'd be a huge improvement already. Whether or not the cost would ever be worth it is questionable. Forget trying to go any faster though, if it can reach 100mph as long as it can still easily circulate people would ride it. Especially with it's now infamous history

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

would be fun!

[@dolbyman]

If you are looking at German extinct theme parks .. look at the Space Center Bremen, it even had a clone of the Vegas Bog invasion ride in it (I only ever did the Vegas Hilton version and yes .. you briefly mention it in your Vegas Star Trek video)

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Stay tuned!

[@merlingrisu]

@@ExpeditionThemePark you could also look at Phantasialand a theme Park near cologne which constantly demolishes old rides to gain Space For new ones.

[@QuixEnd]

Heck yeah, my two favorite childhood indulgences! Roller coasters and fast Vroom Vroom race cars!!

[@CoastersTravels]

Great episode! Always enjoy these videos.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

thank you

[@vatza1344]

The ring was created not to stop people racing on streets but to test the cars for constructors and relaunch economically the region at the time, but love all of your viedos ;)

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thanks!

[@TheCoasterGays]

dude, you should have seen my reaction when I saw you did a video on this. I used to be obsessed with this ride until it blew up haha. My best friend and I used to talk about this coaster all the time, and just like that, it had been forgotten. Thanks for this video!!!!!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you!

[@thecinematicmind]

This rollercoaster is as much a disaster as testing road cars on the Nürburgring. It proves ride is important.

[@dannystockdale5228]

I’m from Salt Lake City and it was because of your Chanel that I found out his company was in Utah. Also I never knew lagoons animal train became a lagoon ride. I would love to see a video or two about his company or the rides at lagoon. One of them being the launched coaster “wicked”. Either way it was a cool to learn about all off the influence and rides that stems from a man where I’m from considering lagoon is a much smaller park than any six flags, Disney, or kings park

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Ah amazing!

[@therealf.b.i9468]

I always see the roller coaster at t1 and i was like "have they ever used that roller coaster?" Turns out it was abandoned

[@counterstrifekid]

I was watching this video, and the entire time I assumed you were a racing channel. This was a fantastic video.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you so much

[@crazycars81]

I used ro watch your channel but now I watch racing. Now I'm back here again LOL

[@jabc4748]

...the F1 theme song is getting me excited for the upcoming season!!! woohooo another GREAT VIDEO!

[@urzaserra256]

Wouldnt be surprised if part of the issue of this coaster was the high likelyhood of injuries to people around the coaster if things went wrong. Looks like a lot of the track is relaatively close to lots of people.

[@dgalcaide_]

I didn't know about those inicidents while testing. I had always in mind that one of the main reasons of closing it was about a supposed "air pressure" difference when entering the building shown 10:31 in the video giving problems to the people riding it as i've been told by local people

[@ianb1968]

Great video. I love your in depth research. And it’s fun to learn about these things I know little or nothing about

[@motorsandcoasters]

F1? in a theme park video? This is the moment i've been waiting for....

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

aha yesss the name fits

[@motorsandcoasters]

*exactly*

[@PaddletailPhilly]

Never knew the Nurburgring has its own little tourist attraction beside it, fascinating stuff

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

It does!

[@johnfoltz8183]

Ring Racer:. I'm the shortest existing coaster ever. I only lasted for four days. Twist Coaster Robin:. Hold my In-line twist

[@Shannondionleelee]

Orphan rocker: you guys got to open?

[@KoasterKing205]

I remember as far back '09 this coaster was forever getting pushed back & wondering if it would ever open.

[@bigchillphil]

RIP Stan Checketts.

[@twistedimagev2]

another great video Sam!!! RIP Stan Checketts.

[@2purpleshadows901]

I saw Gran Turismo today, and I was coaster nerding out when I saw the track still there.

[@squiddyboiiiii7244]

Your voice is soo smoothing

[@TheTotallyRealXiJinping]

Expedition Theme Park Video: *starts* Me: *Sings the intro along with it*

[@jacobbalcom5629]

Happy new year. Looking forward to another year of high quality videos from the theme park goat 🐐

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Happy New Year!

[@bobthathead3]

Had to do a double take when I saw this in my subs! It blended in with my other F1 youtubers haha. Love to see this crossover!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

aha it is time!

[@demongorr]

Loved the tribute at the end

[@Jueen_]

I remember playing the first project cars and older gt’s and seeing the roller coaster on the left, always thought it was odd

[@m.sydneyvern2260]

I never knew that the Nührbergring has a roller coaster. Good work! Also would love a video about the History of Formula Rossa.

[@icalexander]

Neat video. I've always thought it would be neat to visit the Nuremberg ring. One day maybe. Sad that the execution of this coaster was so awfully done. Even if it had worked as intended boring layout with nothing to offer, they had a chance to do something world breaking and it fell flat on it's face

[@wolfs298]

Im genuinely impressed that you were able to find f1 footage that didnt get you struck for copyright F1 can be a huge dick about that stuff

[@RoToRa]

Great stuff. Just one small error: Kurt Beck was the Prime Minister of the German State of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) not of Germany.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Oops thank you for the correction

[@so-calseany1176]

Ugh, I need to finish my homework for this week I’ve been putting off… OOH! A new Expedition!!! * Aggressively watches in procrastination *

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

hope you got the homework done!

[@so-calseany1176]

@@ExpeditionThemePark I did with 4 minutes to spare before the deadline! 😅

[@PedalBox]

I think Sabine was also on that opening ride from the photo :( Locals i've spoken to reckon it's over 100dB when it comes back through the RingWerk building, so it's horrific to be near to boot! I doubt it'll ever open. If they'd run the track over the top of the building instead of through, could have been more interesting and avoided all sorts of issues.

[@murq_juulz4894]

i love your videos so much! i worked at a local theme park when i found them.

[@JrsBoatRocker]

I forgot I was watching a video about a roller coaster for a minute 😑 Nicely done.

[@maggou90]

I know it's very nitpicky but one thing I need to clarify: "The Nürburgring is a race circuit located located near to the town of Nürburg". I've heared that so many times from English native speakers and it is just wrong. The "Nürburg" is a medieval castle and the Nordschleife goes around it. There is a very, very small village called "Nürburg" as well but it's mainly named after the castle als "Burg" means "castle". The city shown here at 1:15 is Nuremberg or "Nürnberg" which is in Bavaria, a good 3 hours away from the Nürburgring. Most English natives confure Nürburg and Nürnberg because they pronuounce -berg and -burg the same but it's not the same.

[@royliber3824]

Ive seen this track around the ring during my visit there few years back, and I was completely clueless back then so I thought maybe its an attraction that was suppose to open... Not an attraction that never was open. With that been said, it can be possible to open it if they add few turns here and there but ultimately it would never open just because it doesn't offer as much as a regular coaster and also the fact that it is placed at an odd area where there shouldn't even be coasters imo. However, if they ever open an amusement park in areas that the ring is surrounding, that could be really really cool and it would attract WAY more people than the Nurburgring already is doing. You can't be truly racing kind of guy without ever hearing about this infamous track. But if you put more attractions that potentially other type of people can enjoy they could really benefit from the situation.

[@RealBlueony]

Ahh yes, Ring Racer, AKA, Straight Track: The Ride.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Yepp!!

[@DK-zt5oo]

HYPE! always ready for a ETP VID.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thanks!

[@dawnjanacek]

I work at Circuit of the Americas and see all of the pieces stacked here that they’re going to use to create the new roller coaster. If you ever want information on that, please reach out, I’m happy to help because I really love your channel

[@coreyhiggins3475]

Great episode friends! And wonderful tribute! I was one of the lucky few that whenever I went to Kings Dominion, Hypersonic XLC was ALWAYS up. I gof SEVERAL rides on it......that gentleman will be missed!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

thank you so much

[@itsyeeoledskoolfurry3208]

Fun Fact: There is an OFF-ROAD version of Indy car. It's called Kart cross or Rally cross. Buggies that are suped up and have extreme suspension are JUST as fast as Indy cars. They kinda sound like Indy cars too.

[@deshawnedwards6412]

You heard about Shrek 4D has close at Universal Studio right? Best time to a video on the now close attraction.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

I went to the final day. I don’t want to do my video however until more information on what will replace it comes. One day though

[@deshawnedwards6412]

@@ExpeditionThemePark I'm pretty sure they said that a Minions attraction based on the Minions films will be replacing it.

[@garyskippracing]

“The only man on slicks on a wet track, Alesi..” Yup, sounds like Alesi.