NÜRBURG, Germany — Sabine Schmitz, the first and only female race car driver to win the annual 24-hour race on the famed Nürburgring circuit and a renowned TV personality, has died. She was 51.
Schmitz had been ill with cancer since 2017 and continued racing until 2019. The 24-hour race’s organizers said she died Tuesday following « a years-long battle with her disease. »
Schmitz grew up near the Nürburgring, a fearsome track that winds through the hills of western Germany. Its 13-mile Nordschleife configuration is regarded as one of the most demanding and dangerous tracks in the world.
Schmitz moved through lower-level racing categories before winning the 24-hour race in 1996 and 1997 as part of a team driving a BMW M3. She also won the VLN championship of endurance races at the Nürburgring in 1998.
Schmitz was a Nürburgring specialist with at least 20,000 laps of the track on her own and in « Ring Taxi » rides for tourists. She also ran her own team, Frikadelli Racing, with her husband.
In 2004, Schmitz was featured for the first time on the British motoring TV show « Top Gear » in a segment about the Nordschleife. She soon became a regular guest star and fan favorite, and from 2016 was part of the show’s regular team. In one notable appearance, she posted a competitive time on the Nordschleife behind the wheel of a van. The BBC said the next episode of the long-running show will be dedicated to Schmitz.
« Sabine radiated positivity, always wore her cheeky smile no matter how hard things got — and was a force of nature for women drivers in the motoring world, » executive producer Clare Pizey told the BBC.
Schmitz also worked on a show on German TV and ran a tourist ranch near the Nürburgring.
https://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/31080679/sabine-schmitz-pioneering-german-race-driver-dies-51
