Queen of the Nuerburgring’ Sabine Schmitz dies at 51

Sabine Schmitz, the only female winner of the 24 Hours of Nuerburgring, has died at the age of 51.

The German race track Nuerburgring said on Wednesday that it “has lost its most famous female racing driver’’.

“Sabine Schmitz passed away far too early after a long illness.

“We will miss her and her cheerful nature. Rest in peace Sabine!”

Schimtz revealed in 2020 that she had been dealing with a rare form of cancer since 2017.

The Adenau-born Schmitz’s first triumph at the 24-hour classic in 1996 with Johannes Scheid and Hans Widmann in the BMW M3.

She won again the following year with Scheid, Hans-Jurgen Tiemann and Peter Zakowski.

Schmitz, who was widely known as ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’, later impressed with her own team Frikadelli Racing, which she had founded with her husband Klaus Abbelen.

She also presented the car programme Top Gear for the BBC.