On 16 March 2021, German racing driver Sabine Schmitz passed away due to “extremely persistent cancer” at a hospital in Trier, Germany, at the age of 51. She had been battling the disease since 2017.
Schmitz was born on May 14 1969 in Adenau, Western Germany. She was the daughter of a wholesaler and a hotel manager in the village of Nürburg near the border between Germany and Belgium. Although she initially trained as a hotelier, she had dreamed of being a racing driver since she was thirteen-years-old.
Nordschleife, the main track of the Nürburgring, was nicknamed “Green Hell” due to its seventy-three corners through the forest in the Eifel hills. The track initially hosted Formula 1 races, but it was later deemed too dangerous and it was redesigned when Schmitz was only two-years-old. She quickly learnt to recite the name of every single turn and she completed her first lap of the track when she was seventeen, driving in her mother’s car before she even had her own driving license. She said that her favourite parts of the track are Schwedenkreuz (“Swedish Cross”) and Fuchsröhre (“Fox Hole”).
With great sadness we have received the news that Sabine Schmitz has passed away.
She will always be remembered within the BMW family as a great person, a Nürburgring legend, a pioneer for female race drivers and a 24h-race winner with BMW.
Our thoughts are with her family. pic.twitter.com/FWLbb3M8Ty
— BMW Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) March 17, 2021
After competing in amateur races alongside her sisters, Schmitz joined the BMW racing team in the early 1990s. She went on to become a successful record-breaking driver as the first – and the only woman to date – to win the 24 Hours Nürburgring race in 1996 and again the following year in 1997. She also finished third in the 2008 edition of the race.
“Her record-breaking performances resulted in her being labelled the Queen of the Nürburgring”
Her record-breaking performances resulted in her being labelled the “Queen of the Nürburgring”, a nickname which was well-deserved since she had completed over 20,000 laps of the circuit. She also became known as “the fastest taxi driver in the world” after she began to entertain thrill-seeking racing fans by taking them for a high-speed lap in a BMW around the track.
She first appeared on the BBC’s hit car show Top Gear in 2004 where she broke the ten-minute barrier around the Nordschleife in a diesel Jaguar S-Type. In the next series of the show, she attempted to replicate this whilst driving a Ford Transit van.
The Nürburgring 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! pic.twitter.com/MFKNNFOSDU
— Nürburgring (@nuerburgring) March 17, 2021
After making several appearances on the popular show over the years, she officially joined Top Gear as a presenter a little over a decade later in 2016 for its relaunch series. She left the show last year after announcing her battle with cancer. Top Gear stated that production has started on an official tribute for the former presenter and racing legend. Meanwhile, the episode, which aired on 21 March 2021, was dedicated to her in the ending credits despite the episode being pre-recorded.
“Tributes came pouring in on Twitter following the announcement of her death”
Further tributes came pouring in on Twitter following the announcement of her death from the likes of Nürburgring, Formula 1, BMW, former Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, and current Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness, to name a few. Sophia Floersch, a 20-year-old German driver who became the first woman to compete in Formula 3 in 2020, also called Schmitz “inspiring and motivating”.
1969-2021
Gemma Cockrell
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Gemma Cockrell
Hi, I'm Gemma, I'm 20 and I'm currently a student in Nottingham. I write mostly about music, but you can also catch me talking about motorsport and occasionally TV and film.