Sabine Schmitz

Sabine Schmitz (; formerly Reck; 14 May 1969 – 16 March 2021) was a German professional motor racing driver and television personality. She was born in Adenau to a family in the hotel and catering business, and raised in one of the villages nestled within the Nürburgring. 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.

Schmitz was known as an expert on the Nürburgring circuit, being the first woman to win a major 24h race overall, and winning two victories in 24h races during the course of her driving career on the circuit. She also became a cult icon on television, following her appearance on BBC's Top Gear, making recurring appearances alongside several of the programme's presenters. In March 2021, Schmitz died of cancer at the age of 51, following a diagnosis in late 2017.

Career

Nürburgring Schmitz posing in front of her Porsche 997 at the Nürburgring pit straight in 2008. 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 near Cologne, she won the 24 Hours Nürburgring in 1996 and 1997 as Sabine Reck, all with a BMW M3 Group N entered and co-driven by local veteran Johannes Scheid. In 2006 Schmitz and Klaus Abbelen drove the #97 Porsche 997 in the Nürburgring VLN endurance racing series, entered by Land Motorsport. They finished third in the 2008 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

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" 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.

Schmitz's 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". In a later episode, Schmitz drove a Ford Transit 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) 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-based challenges in order to see which team was better.

In March 2015, The Guardian 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 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 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 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, 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 pilot.

In July 2020, Schmitz revealed via a Facebook 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 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 24 Hours of Nürburgring Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 1989 Selzer Motorsport Dieter Selzer Friedrich Scholl Ford Sierra Cosworth Class 3 117 31st 4th 1990 Asch RS Nachwuchsförderung Franz-Josef Bröhling Jr. Susanne Schmitz Michael Trunk Ford Fiesta XR2i Class 4 32 DNF DNF Selzer Motorsport Franz-Josef Bröhling Jr. Fred Räk Dieter Selzer Ford Sierra Cosworth Class 6 49 DNF DNF 1991 DSK Ja zum Motorsport Franz-Josef Bröhling Dieter Lindenbaum Dieter Selzer Ford Sierra Cosworth 4x4 Class 1 26 DNF DNF Ford Gerstmann Racing Team Franz-Josef Bröhling Jr. Astrid Hild Thomas Marschall Ford Fiesta XR2i Class 4 109 86th 15th 1992 Thomas Beyer Bernd Ostmann Wolfgang Sander Ford Escort RS Class 4 54 134th 15th Axel Hopfengartner Mario Hopfengartner Thomas Marschall Ford Fiesta XR2i Class 5 29 DNF DNF 1993 FINA Tankstellen Team Vogelsang Mario Merten Philippe Siffert Mike Strotmann BMW 325i Class 2 118 27th 9th 1994 FINA Tankstellen Team Schneider Dirk Adorf Markus Gedlich Andy Middendorf BMW 325i Class 3 100 18th 3rd 1996 Scuderia Augustusburg Brühl e. V. im ADAC Johannes Scheid Hans Widmann BMW M3 E36 Class 2 135 1st 1st 1997 Scuderia Augustusburg Brühl e. V. im ADAC Johannes Scheid Hans-Jürgen Tiemann Peter Zakowski BMW M3 E36 Class 3 126 1st 1st 1998 Scuderia Augustusburg Brühl e. V. im ADAC Johannes Scheid Stefan Schlesack BMW M3 E36 Class 3 130 4th 1st 1999 Scuderia Augustusburg Brühl e. V. im ADAC MSC Adenau e. V. im ADAC Wilhelm-Dieter Kern Johannes Scheid BMW M3 E36 GTRS A6 74 DNF DNF 2000 Sakura 2000 Vanina Ickx Ellen Lohr Tamara Vidali Honda S2000 A7 64 DNF DNF 2003 OK-Speed Marketing.com Hammer Sport Helmut Dähne Ossi Kragl Jürgen Müller Mini Cooper A2 108 91st 4th 2004 OK-Speed Marketing.com Hammer Sport Ossi Kragl Stéphane Mertens Daniel Pfrommer Mini Cooper A2 65 DNF DNF 2005 DSK Ja zum Motorsport e.V. Ossi Kragl Victor Smolski Ralf Zensen Lotus Elise MPR A3 99 115th 25th 2006 Klaus Abbelen Andy Bovensiepen Heinz Dieter Schornstein Porsche GT3 SP7 87 DNF DNF 2007 Manthey Racing GmbH Klaus Abbelen Edgar Althoff Porsche 997 GT3 SP7 47 DNF DNF 2008 Sabine Schmitz Klaus Abbelen Kenneth Heyer Edgar Viersen Porsche 997 SP7 145 3rd 3rd 2009 Frikadelli Racing Team Klaus Abbelen Edgar Althoff Kenneth Heyer Porsche 997 GT3 RSR SP7 149 6th 2nd 2010 Frikadelli Racing Team Klaus Abbelen Edgar Althoff Dieter Schornstein Jr. Porsche 997 GT3 RSR SP7 122 DNF DNF 2011 MSC Adenau e.V. Klaus Abbelen Tim Bergmeister Niclas Kentenich Porsche 997 GT3 R SP9 152 9th 6th RJN Motorsport Holger Eckhardt Michael Krumm Tetsuya Tanaka Nissan 370Z SP8 122 82nd 4th 2012 Klaus Abbelen Christopher Brück Patrick Huisman Porsche 997 GT3 R SP9 151 6th 6th 2013 Klaus Abbelen Christopher Brück Patrick Pilet Porsche 997 GT3 R SP9 84 16th 12th 2014 Frikadelli Racing Team Klaus Abbelen Patrick Huisman Patrick Pilet Porsche 997 GT3 R SP9 41 DNF DNF 2015 Frikadelli Racing Team Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Huisman Patrick Pilet Porsche 997 GT3 R SP9 45 DNF DNF 2016 Frikadelli Racing Team Klaus Abbelen Patrick Huisman Norbert Siedler Porsche 991 GT3 R SP9 50 DNF DNF 2017 Frikadelli Racing Klaus Abbelen Alex Müller Andreas Ziegler Porsche 991 GT3 R SP9 152 16th 15th

South African Touring Car Championship The BMW 318iS Super Touring cars of Deon Joubert and Sabine Schmitz, photographed at Kyalami during October 1995. 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 of Schmitz and Toyota driver Mike White at Killarney during an open practice session resulted in neck injuries and an injured 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.

World Touring Car Championship (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 DC Points 2015 All–Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 ARG 1 ARG 2 MAR 1 MAR 2 HUN 1 HUN 2 GER 110 GER 211 RUS 1 RUS 2 SVK 1 SVK 2 FRA 1 FRA 2 POR 1 POR 2 JPN 1 JPN 2 CHN 1 CHN 2 THA 1 THA 2 QAT 1 QAT 2 23rd 1 2016 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1 FRA 1 FRA 2 SVK 1 SVK 2 HUN 1 HUN 2 MAR 1 MAR 2 GER 110 GER 211 RUS 1 RUS 2 POR 1 POR 2 ARG 1 ARG 2 JPN 1 JPN 2 CHN 1 CHN 2 QAT 1 QAT 2 22nd 1