Today we bid farewell to a motoring hero. A woman of great driving talent and honed skills. Sabine Schmitz, the “Queen of the ‘Ring.” Known as such because she won the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring, not just once, which is difficult in itself, but twice in 1996 and 1997. She is the first woman so far to do so and hopefully not the last. She also delighted TopGear fans in 2004 by scaring the bejeezus out of Richard Hammond by attempting to complete a 10-minute lap around the ‘Ring in a 136hp Ford Transit van. She would go on to become a presenter on the show.
Sabine was always an upbeat and friendly driver and on-screen personality. She was just 51 years old and had only revealed last year that she’d been fighting a persistent cancer since 2017. Appearing on social media, she kept a brave smile in her posts. She’ll be remembered among fans as the legend she was. This photo journo in particular will remember seeing her race at the 2016 Rolex24 race at Daytona. An image from which can be seen in the header image of this article. May she rest in peace. 1969-2021
hangs behind my monitor to this day.
Text and Photography by Bryce Womeldurf
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