Tributes pour in for Sabine Schmitz

Queen of the Ring remembered by Top Gear friends and many more.

REVHEADS, racers and a multitude of motoring and motorsport media outlets around the world have been saluting Sabine Schmitz, who has died at the age of 51. 

The Nurburgring’s most famous female driver — widely known as “Queen of the Ring” — who also rose to fame as a television personality lost her battle with cancer after more than three years with the disease.

Schmitz was synonymous with the Nurburgring Nordschleife, the 22.5 kilometre circuit in Germany that is renowned as the toughest in the world. She was born and raised in villages adjacent to the track and experienced her first lap at the age of three (her dad drove).

She rose to become the only female winner of the 24 Hours of Nurburgring – first in 1996, then again the following year, both times in a BMW M3 –  and estimated she had driven around the track more than 20,000 times.

She really rose to international attention with the general public after appearing on the Top Gear television programme.

Her debut was in a 2004 episode as the hired hand who instructed Jeremy Clarkson as he drove a Jaguar S-Type R around the circuit. Ih the aftermath, quipped she could beat his time driving a Ford Transit van. The next year, she went on to accept the challenge – falling short by a mere nine seconds, despite her Ford Transit boasting a fraction of the power of Clarkson’s supercharged V8 Jaguar. Those segments were highlight pieces of the programme’s Clark-May-Hammond era.

A statement from the legendary German racetrack said: “The Nurburgring has lost its most famous female racing driver. 

“Sabine Schmitz passed away far too early after a long illness. We will miss her and her cheerful nature. Rest in peace Sabine!” 

Jeremy Clarkson said: “Terrible news about Sabine Schmitz. Such a sunny person and so full of beans.”

Co-host Richard Hammond said: “Very sad to hear of the passing of Sabine Schmitz, a proper driving legend who’ll be sadly missed by many. The Ring has lost its Queen. RIP.” 

The Top Gear website also placed a tribute, saying.

“Sabine was a beloved member of the Top Gear family and presenting team since 2016, having first appeared on the show in 2004, and everyone who had the pleasure of working with her on the team is in shock at this news. Sabine radiated positivity, always wore her cheeky smile no matter how hard things got and was a force of nature for female drivers in the motoring world.”

Top Gear said that while Schmitz starred on TV in recent years, it was her abilities around the Green Hell – the world’s most notorious race circuit – where she first established her name.

“She adored the ‘Ring and knew it on an almost innate level, having driven tens of thousands of laps and competed in countless races there. She won the Nürburgring 24 Hours twice, her 1996 victory being the first for a female driver.

“Like everyone else who knew her, we will truly miss her – Sabine really was one of a kind. Our thoughts are with her partner Klaus, who was always by her side and who we welcomed to Dunsfold many times, and her family in Germany.”

Current Top Gear host Chris Harris, who is a renowned racing driver in his own right, recalled Schmitz as a “wonderful, powerful, hilarious person.”

Formula 1 said Schmitz was "a force of nature" who inspired "a new generation of motorsport enthusiasts".

The Hegarty website said Schmitz was born in Adenau and grew up in Nurburg, where her family ran a modest hotel. There she would mix with the great and the good from motor racing, and by the age of 13 had made up her mind to become a racing driver.

She would need to wait to be 18, when she could hold a driving license, to drive around the Nürburgring circuit, but by the time she reached 17 the urge was too great to resist and she ‘borrowed’ her mother’s BMW and, without her permission, drove it to the circuit for her first experience from behind the wheel.

As she recounts: “The guy on the track… he said, ‘Oh Sabine, you are already 18? You’ve got your driving license?’ I said, ‘Oh, yes! Bye bye.’ Vroom! And then I would go on the track.”

In years gone by, Schmitz drove for BMW’s Ring Taxi service, which offered paying passengers a high-speed lap in one of a fleet of BMW M5s. Nearly all passengers would hope to secure a place in Schmitz’s car, leading her to establish her own Ring Taxi service.

After withdrawing from a race last July, Schmitz shared news of her health with fans.

“Dear friends of professional motor sport.

“Many of you have probably wondered why I was on the list of participants on our Porsche in the NSL and then didn’t drive after all.

“I would like to provide enlightenment here, I think I owe it to my/our fans! Since the end of 2017, I have been fighting an extremely persistent cancer that has not been eliminated with the resources so far.

“It got a little better – but now it’s come back with full force.

“Now I have to draw all the strength and nerve to master the next powerful therapies … hoping something (good) will happen.

“So I say goodbye ‘probably’ for the first time this season. In addition, I would like to thank everyone for their help and support in my everyday life, and encouragement in writing!”