Ferrari Opens Formula One Theme Park in Abu Dhabi

Submitbookmarker - Their prancing horse logo is synonymous with speed, luxury cars and success on the race track. But now it appears that Ferrari have are moving away from their natural racing pedigree, and into another kind of thrills.

The iconic car manufacturer is aiming to woo it fans and their families by opening a huge theme park, named Ferrari World, in Abu Dhabi. With a 200,000 square-metre roof painted in the famous Ferrari red and the World fastest roller coaster at 149mph, the theme park will be just down the road from the Yas Marina Circuit which hosts the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November.

Thrill seekers will experience nearly two G on the 2km ride as they travel around in cars that resemble the Ferrari Formula One car. A maximum of 16 riders can go at any one time.

They will also be fired 52 metres into the air in less than five seconds before returning back to the start on track that has bends that in places turn at 70 degrees.

The park, due to open on October 27, will also feature a tower ride that shoots riders 62 meters (203 feet) in the air with G-forces that a race driver might feel.

It will also house the largest collection of classic and modern Ferrari race cars outside of the company's Maranello headquarters as well as an Italian restaurant.

Visitors can stroll through a Ferrari paddock, handle tools used during races and train to be part of a pit crew which changes the tires on an F1 car.

'It brings motor racing. It brings together beautiful GT cars. It brings nostalgia,' said Andy Keeling, the park manager of Ferrari World.

'Let's also not forget it is a great, fun place to go. It's not a museum. It's not a car salesroom. You ride great roller coasters. The icing on the cake is that it's a Ferrari Formula 1 roller coaster.'

And at 80,000 square meters, it will be the world's biggest indoor theme park according to general manager Claus Frimand.

Frimand also said that the the park offered Ferrari a unique platform to share its storied, 81-year history and attract a legion of new fans.

'We are the ultimate brand experience for Ferrari,' Frimand said. 'We tell the whole story of all the Ferrari victories over time and why it's the biggest of the race teams.'

The decision by Ferrari to launch its first theme park in the Middle East in many ways shows how important the region is to the future of motor sports.

Among the F1 teams, Ferrari has been most aggressive in tapping into the popularity of racing in the region. It opened a store at Abu Dhabi in 2007 selling Ferrari merchandise and last year unveiled its largest outlet in Dubai complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring former F1 drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Giancarlo Fisichella.

On weekends, its 1,000-square-foot store in Dubai is packed with Emiratis shopping for everything from golf balls to perfume to children's bikes - many painted Ferrari red and featuring the company's prancing horse.

The growing popularity of F1 in the oil-rich Middle East can be credited to Gulf Arab's love of speed and their taste for luxury brands.

And with some of the highest per capita incomes in the world, Gulf fans offer plenty of enticements for a sport that has seen its fortunes suffer during the recent economic downturn with car manufacturers including Honda pulling out of the sport and several advertisers ending their sponsorship deals.

'The locals are very interested in cars, fast cars. You can see that when you drive around,' said Khaled al Qubaisi, of the United Arab Emirates, who is the only Middle Eastern driver competing in the Porsche Supercup Series.

'That is something within us going fast and outperforming in whatever we ride whether it be the horses or cars,' he said. 'If people are interested in cars, they are interested in car racing. If you give them the right product in motor sport, they will naturally be attracted and follow it.'

Racing has always been part of Arab culture. Tribesmen have raced camels and horses for centuries and Dubai hosts the world's richest horse race in the £6.4million Dubai World Cup.

This passion for head-to-head competition has since morphed into the four-wheel variety with the introduction of road rallies in the 1970s that picked up steam with the Middle East Rally Championship in 1984.

With the arrival of Dubai Autodrome racing circuit in 2004, the interest in motor sports has exploded. The Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates says the numbers of racing licenses has jumped from 200 to 800 in the past five years and Gulf Arabs are increasingly flexing their muscle on and off the track.

Sheik Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani, the son of the emir of Qatar, has invested £4.5m in a new team that competes on the National Hot Rod Association drag racing circuit in the United States and an Abu Dhabi government-backed entity entered one of its top fuel dragsters in four NHRA races this year. Sheik Khalid Al Qassimi of the United Arab Emirates is a rising star in the World Rally Championship while Qatar's Nasser al-Attiyah finished second in this year's Dakar Rally.

The Abu Dhabi circuit has also set up a drag racing run by Top Fuel driver Rod Fuller aimed at developing Emiratis to compete at the sport's top levels and plans to open a racing academy with the goal of putting an Emirati driver behind the wheel of an F1 car in the next decade.

'That is very achievable,' said Richard Cregan, the chief executive officer for Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management which runs the Yas Marina Circuit, of an Emirati driver in F1. 'It's a matter of providing opportunities for Emiratis to race and they will do so.'