Exploring Abandoned Opel-Rennbahn - Drone Flight over Abandoned 1920's Opel Test Track

Exploring Abandoned Opel-Rennbahn - Drone Flight over Abandoned 1920's Opel Test Track
The old Opel Test Track, official named Opel-Rennbahn, opened in 1920 as a test facility of the Opel Factory in Rüsselsheim, Germany. It was an oval track, inspired by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Soon they saw the commercial potential of the track, and start to organize races during the weekends. For these occasions they built five grandstands around the track, who could accommodate 50.000 spectators. Beside motor racing, the large proving ground was also used for markets, exhibitions and performances of Opels own music chapel.
But when in 1927 the Nürburgring opened, and in 1932 the Hockenheimring, the Opel-Rennbahn got tough competition of modern tracks. In the 30s less races were organized. And when WWII broke out in 1939, motor racing stopped.
After the war the Opel Test Track was used by the Amrican Army, to test military vehicles. But in 1949 the track closed and was left abandoned. In 1987 the abandoned circuit got the status of a monument of industry and technologie. Today, a part ot the overgrown track is cleared and equipped with an observation platform.
During my visit on June 11, 2023 I saw they cleared a bigger part of the old track and created a narrow hiking path on the overgrown track. In this video I follow this path.
More about the history of the Opel-Rennbahn in the article on the website: www.circuitsof...
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[@OliverDierks]

The Opel Rennbahn was already obsolete by the 1930s, as the tight curves prevented the race cars from reaching speeds beyond 140kph, whereas competing tracks allowed speeds beyond 200kph at the same time.

[@Circuitsofthepast]

Yes, the new circuits of those days were more attractive because of the higher speeds.

[@gjermundhigraff7789]

The straight line cutting across/under in the first minute of the video, is that a currently used railway or is that also historical? I just assume it's railway because of it being so straight 🙂

[@Circuitsofthepast]

There is no railway nearby. What you see at the beginning is the road on the Start/Finish site and a straight path inside the old track.

[@YuriBruschi]

Ciao Herman, Sorry for later👍

[@Circuitsofthepast]

Thanks! No problem, we're all busy.

[@mauricioce9806]

Very cool!

[@Circuitsofthepast]

Thanks!