The ride, for those brave enough to try it, will only take a few seconds to reach its apex

When it opens in May this year, Top Thrill Dragster will travel from 0 to 120 mph (193 km/h) in four seconds, rocket up a vertical 420-foot ascent, rotate 90 degrees, and plunge straight back down while spiralling 270 degrees.

Riders, who face height and weight restrictions, strap themselves into trains that resemble road dragsters and which give the ride its name.

At $25m, the so-called "strata-coaster" is not only said to be the world's tallest and fastest, but also its most expensive fright machine.

TOP THRILL DRAGSTER First rollercoaster to top 400 ft First rollercoaster to reach 120mph 2,800 ft of track over eight acres 400 ft vertical drop Launch speed: 120 mph in 4 seconds Capacity: 1,500 riders per hour Six 16-passenger trains 1,150-ton structure

"More than anything, it takes a lot of patience to build a coaster of this magnitude," said Monty Jasper, vice-president of maintenance and construction at the Cedar Point park.

"This has been an incredibly intricate project on so many levels, especially since we are reaching new thresholds with height and speed," he said.

The ride, on the shores of Lake Erie close to Cleveland, took three years, from conception to completion, to get off the ground.

Top Thrill Dragster will be the fourth Cedar Point rollercoaster to hold the title of world's tallest and fastest rollercoaster ever built.

The park has already claimed the title for three other rides over a period 20 years as it kept building taller and taller twisters.