Loop 030 printable

Volume 2, No. 7. April 12, 2002

New Arrivals

It’s a roller coaster!
Europa-Park in Rust, Germany, announces the arrival of Silver Star, March 23, 2002. Measurements: 73 meters high (241 feet), 1,620 meters long (5,346 feet), 130 km/h (81 mph), 36-passenger trains. Delivered by Bolliger & Mabillard.

For a ride sponsored by car-maker Mercedes Benz, themed after auto racing, with a queue line going through a motorsport exhibition hall, you would expect that the first official riders on Silver Star would be race car drivers. Fittingly, three members of the DTM circuit (German touring car masters) were on hand for the steel coaster’s grand opening: Jean Alesi, a former Formula 1 driver now racing for Mercedes DTM team, German champion Bernd Schneider and his Swiss opponent Marcel Fässler (a tip of the hat to Swiss coaster manufacturer B&M).

So, what was German boxing legend Henry Maske doing on the bill? “He was spending a private weekend in the park with his family, and Roland Mack got him to go on the coaster,” said the park’s public relations representative Martina Evers of her general manager’s power of persuasion. He was persuasive enough to get Maske, who “was a little afraid,” onto the ride. His verdict: “He said he would rather start boxing again than ride Silver Star,” Evers said.

The drivers, on the other hand, claimed to be in their element. “They compared it a lot to Formula 1 driving,” Evers said. “Alesi said it was quite similar to driving a race car.” They, of course, got front row seats. And despite the trickiness of many Grand Prix racecourses, few drivers have powered their cars down a 73-meter first drop at a 70-degree angle. Nevertheless, more guests than not sided with the drivers over the boxer, Evers said.