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Originally Posted by BoJack
(Post 5023955)
The Queen of the Nurburgring passes away after long battle with cancer at the age of 51. |
| This clip dates from all the way back in 2011, when Schmitz was competing in the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring series with the Frikadelli Racing Team. Sharing a car with Florian Fricke and Arno Klasen for the sixth round of the year, Schmitz more than pulled her weight, handing the Porsche over to Arno Klasen in first place overall after an intense first stint. Join Schmitz in the cockpit in this nail-biting onboard, as she jostles with fellow Porsches, AMG SLS and the odd BMW Z4 GT3 (we know how much you love the sound of a Z4 GT3) around the Nordschleife at speeds in excess of 280km/h (174mph). It isn’t just proof that racing at the Nürburgring is absolutely mental (three 911s nearly stack it into a stranded Mercedes C63 AMG on the start of the second lap) but that Schmitz is the undisputed Queen of the Nürburgring. |
| Irish Mirror This Sunday's episode of Top Gear will be dedicated to the German racing driver. Clare Pizey, Top Gear's executive producer, said in a statement on behalf of the Top Gear team: "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. |
| The motoring world lost one of its true legends last night, when the powerful and irrepressible Sabine Schmitz passed away, aged just 51. Already a key figure at the Nürburgring after becoming the first, and still the only woman to win the grueling 24-hour race, she shot to international fame by uttering the immortal phrase: “I do that lap time in a van.” She beat Jeremy’s time in a road car, while lobbing a Ford Transit about the Eiffel mountains in her normal style. She’s been a part of Top Gear ever since, and the thought that she won’t be any more makes me feel very, very sad. Sabine was born and bred at the Nürburgring. Her mother ran a local hotel and she quickly established herself as a local specialist around the most challenging race circuit on the planet. On the back of her regular racing outings in the VLN championship and the 24-hour events, she became the main tourist attraction as the driver of the ‘Ring Taxi. Lord knows how many sets of tyres and brakes she got through over the years, but there are thousands of people who had the pleasure of seeing her driving skills up close, and I think she loved how much she could shock middle-aged men who thought they could drive a bit – until they saw what she could do. She was a bundle of energy, one of those people whose resting facial expression was a huge grin, and she was so much fun to be around and to work alongside. She had been battling cancer for some time, but I suppose we just assumed that it being Sabine – unstoppable Sabine – she would win that one as well. The Top Gear family will miss her terribly, as will her army of fans. Sending our love and thoughts to Klaus, her family, close friends and the Frikadelli Racing team she was so proud of. |
| All times are GMT +5.5. The time now is 22:30. |