Sabine Schmitz
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Sabine Schmitz (; 14 May 1969 – 16 March 2021) was a German professional
motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...
driver and
television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
. Born in
Adenau Adenau () is a town in the High Eifel in Germany. It is known as the ''Johanniterstadt'' because the Order of Saint John was based there in the Middle Ages. The town's coat of arms combines the black cross of the Electorate of Cologne with the l ...
to a family in the hotel and catering business, and raised in one of the villages nestled within the
Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
race track, she initially trained to join the same profession as her parents, before choosing to begin a career in racing, working as a driver for BMW and
Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
. She became known for being an expert on the Nürburgring circuit, winning two victories in endurance races during the course of her driving career on the circuit, and became a cult icon on television following her appearance on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'', making recurring appearances alongside several of the programme's presenters. Schmitz died of
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
, in March 2021, at the age of 51, following a diagnosis in late 2017.


Career


Nürburgring

Following occasional drives with the family car on the Nordschleife, all three Schmitz sisters started racing, but only Sabine continued and went on to achieve several notable victories. Schmitz won in CHC and VLN race events, the VLN endurance racing championship in 1998. After getting married and running a hotel in
Pulheim Pulheim (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Pullem'') is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since the 1920s, a large substation of the ''Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG'' (RWE) is located at Pulheim. I ...
near Cologne, she won the
24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
in 1996 and 1997 as ''Sabine Reck'', all with a
BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial model ...
Group N entered and co-driven by local veteran Johannes Scheid. In 2006 Schmitz and
Klaus Abbelen Klaus Abbelen (born 15 September 1960) is a German race car driver. After starting racing Ferraris in the 1990s, he became the Euro GT Series champion in 2000. He has also recently competed in the FIA GT Championship, as well as in the Le Man ...
drove the #97
Porsche 997 Porsche 997 is the internal designation for the Porsche 911 sports car manufactured and sold by the German automobile manufacturer Porsche between 2004 (as Model Year 2005) and 2013. Production of the Carrera and Carrera S coupés began in early ...
in the Nürburgring VLN endurance racing series, entered by ''Land Motorsport''. They finished third in the 24h 2008. Schmitz came to mass public attention driving one of the two
BMW M5 The BMW M5 is a high performance variant of the BMW 5 Series marketed under the BMW M sub-brand. It is considered an iconic vehicle in the sports sedan category. The majority of M5s have been produced in the sedan (saloon) body style, but in so ...
"ring taxis" around the -long race track in an entertaining manner. According to her own estimates, Schmitz went around the track more than 20,000 times, increasing by approximately 1,200 per year. Her familiarity with the circuit earned her the nicknames "Queen of the
Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
" and "the fastest taxi driver in the world". She said her favourite parts of the track were the Schwedenkreuz (Swedish Cross) and Fuchsröhre (Fox Hole). Schmitz's company, Nürburgring-based Sabine Schmitz Motorsport, offers advanced driver training and a "ring taxi" service for passengers. Schmitz herself ceased driving the "ring taxi" in 2011.


Television career

As a result of her popularity as "the fastest taxi driver in the world", and her charisma, Schmitz became an occasional motorsport guest commentator, known for her gleefully dry descriptions of driving incidents. Since September 2006, Schmitz has co-hosted a motoring show on German television, '' D Motor'' on the DMAX TV channel. In each show, she takes on another challenge, for example Schmitz in a
Ferrari 360 The Ferrari 360 (Type F131) is a two-seater, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari from 1999 until 2005. It succeeded the Ferrari F355 and was replaced by the Ferrari F430 in 2004. D ...
vs. a 1200 hp Race Truck, or Schmitz in a
Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...
race car vs. a race
sidecar A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...
. She has also appeared on ''
Fifth Gear ''Fifth Gear'' is a British motoring television magazine series on Discovery+. It is a continuation of the ''Fifth Gear'' format originally broadcast on Channel 5 from 2002 to 2011, afterwards moving to Discovery Channel in 2012, and then in ...
''. Her first appearance on British television was on the 2002 BBC programme '' Jeremy Clarkson: Meets the Neighbours'', where she took Clarkson around the Nürburgring in the "ring taxi".


''Top Gear''

In December 2004, Schmitz gained further recognition in the United Kingdom after appearing in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television programme ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...
'' with presenter
Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...
. After Clarkson (under her tutelage) set a lap time of 9 minutes 59 seconds around the Nürburgring in a Jaguar S-Type diesel ( Series 5, Episode 5), she dismissed his best lap with the comment "I tell you something, I do that lap time in the van". She did a lap in the Jaguar S-Type, and set a time of 9 minutes 12 seconds, beating him by 47 seconds. When trying to film Schmitz as she drove the S-Type, the film crew were unable to keep up, and had to get Jaguar test driver Wolfgang Schubauer to drive the Jaguar S-Type R chase car. In a later episode Schmitz drove a
Ford Transit The Ford Transit is a family of light commercial vehicles manufactured by the Ford Motor Company since 1965, primarily as a cargo van, but also available in other configurations including a large passenger van (marketed as the Ford Tourneo in ...
diesel van in an attempt to beat Clarkson's time set in the Jaguar, missing his time by just 9 seconds ( Series 6, Episode 7). In 2008 Schmitz (and fellow '' D Motor'' presenters Carsten van Ryssen and
Tim Schrick Tim Schrick (born January 20, 1976 in Wermelskirchen) is a German racecar driver and television presenter. He is the son of Peter Schrick, founder of engine manufacturing company ''Dr. Schrick GmbH'' now known as ''AVL-Schrick GmbH''. Schrick has ...
,) featured in a Top Gear challenge of "Top Gear Vs the Germans". The ''Top Gear'' team faced off against the German team in a series of comedy-biased challenges in order to see which team was the best. Schmitz took on Clarkson in a gymkhana-styled event followed by a single lap race, beating him by several seconds, although due to prolific cheating from the ''Top Gear'' team, the Germans lost overall. In March 2015, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' featured a satirical article calling for Schmitz to be the new presenter of ''Top Gear'' in order to gracefully cancel the programme, concluding that "She has appeared from time to time on ''Top Gear'' in the past, and shown herself to possess exactly the right mix of knowledge and boisterousness for the job every time. Plus, she is both German and a woman, a combination of traits so alien to the majority of ''Top Gear'' viewers that the whole programme would probably self-destruct within an hour of her taking the job. And surely, at this point, that would, as they say, be the best outcome for everyone involved." In December 2015 ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'' reported that Schmitz had been selected as a presenter on the revamped ''Top Gear''. This was later confirmed by the BBC in February 2016, along with the announcement of several new presenters for the programme.


Personal life

Born in
Adenau Adenau () is a town in the High Eifel in Germany. It is known as the ''Johanniterstadt'' because the Order of Saint John was based there in the Middle Ages. The town's coat of arms combines the black cross of the Electorate of Cologne with the l ...
to local restaurant owners, Schmitz and her two elder sisters grew up in the "Hotel am Tiergarten" (in the basement of which is the ''Pistenklause'' restaurant) in
Nürburg Nürburg () is a town in the Germany, German district of Ahrweiler (district), Ahrweiler, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is also the name of the local castle, Nürburg Castle, which was built in the High Middle Ages. The name is derived ...
within the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Schmitz trained as a ''Hotelfachfrau'' (graduate in hotel and catering business) and sommelière. During her marriage to a hotelier she lived in
Pulheim Pulheim (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Pullem'') is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since the 1920s, a large substation of the ''Rheinisch-Westfälisches Elektrizitätswerk AG'' (RWE) is located at Pulheim. I ...
, but after her divorce in 2000, up until 2003, she owned a bar-restaurant in Nürburg named the ''Fuchsröhre'' (Foxhole) after a track section. She was also a qualified
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
pilot. In July 2020, Schmitz revealed via a
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
post that she had been suffering from "an extremely persistent cancer" since late 2017. She explained that she had sought treatment and her condition was improving, but she had relapsed and would be undergoing treatment again. At the time of her revelation, Schmitz was still making recurring appearances on ''Top Gear''. She died of cancer at a hospital in
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
on 16 March 2021, aged 51. The Nürburgring have renamed the first corner of the Nordschleife loop as the "Sabine-Schmitz-Kurve" posthumously in her honour.


Race results


South African Touring Car Championship

Schmitz, competing under her married name of Sabine Reck, contested the 1995 AA Fleetcare Super Touring Championship, driving an E36 BMW super touring car for BMW SA Motorsport alongside teammates Deon Joubert and Shaun Van Der Linde. Despite high expectations, Schmitz did not find success in the South African championship. She was consistently outqualified and outpaced by Joubert and Van Der Linde, both of whom had extensive experience of the race tracks on which the series was run. A mid-season crash involving Toyota driver Mike White at
Killarney Killarney ( ; ga, Cill Airne , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Ross Castl ...
during an open practice session resulted in neck injuries and a damaged right knee, forcing her to sit out three consecutive race meetings. At the end of the 1995 season, Schmitz finished last in the Class A points standings, with no race wins, pole positions or fastest laps. She did not return for the 1996 season. *
24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...
: Overall winner in 1996 and 1997 (BMW), third in 2008 (Porsche), ninth in 2011 (Porsche), sixth in 2012 (Porsche)


Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


References


External links

* *
Sabine Schmitz obituary
in ''New York Times''
Sabine Schmitz obituary
in Autoweek


Video footage


Part 1Part 2 One Lap with Ford Transit (diesel) in 10:08 at TopGear
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, Sabine 1969 births 2021 deaths 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Deaths from cancer in Germany German female racing drivers People from Adenau Racing drivers from Rhineland-Palatinate Top Gear people WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers