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Sabine Schmitz, By The original uploader was Jospi76 at German .

Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about Sabine Schmitz

Sabine was a German professional motor racing driver and television personality. She became known for being an expert on the Nürburgring circuit, winning two victories in endurance races during her driving career on the circuit, and became a cult icon on television following her appearance on BBC’s Top Gear making recurring appearances alongside several of the program’s presenters. Schmitz died of cancer, in March 2021, at the age of 51, following a diagnosis in late 2017.

Here are the top unbelievable facts about Sabine Schmitz.

1. She was a cancer patient

Schmitz revealed on her Facebook page that she had been fighting cancer for three years since 2007 it was diagnosed. In her post, she said that she had sought treatment and her condition was improving but after a while, her condition deteriorated and she would undergo treatment again. At the time she revealed her condition she still would make an appearance at the top gear. Her condition deteriorated.

2. She contested in the South African touring car championship.

While she was still operating on her married name Sabine Reck, she contested the 1995AA Fleet care super touring Championship, she was driving the E36 BMW super touring car for BMW SA Motorsport alongside teammates Deon Joubert and Shaun Van Der Linde. However, she lost in the South African championship to more experienced Joubert and Shaun. However she was the 24 Hours Nurburgring overall winner in 1996 and 1997, she finished third in 2008 (Porsche), ninth in 2011 (Porsche) sixth in 2012.

3. She was happily married twice 

Schmitz married a German hotelier and they lived at Pullheim they later divorced. At that time she was known as Sabine Reck. They divorced in 2000. After the divorce, she met Klaus Abbelen and they later tied knots. It is said that they didn’t have children but they were madly in love. The two were in the same field of racing. In 2006, they both drove the #97 Porshe 997 in the VLN endurance racing series on the Nurburgring, entered by a land motor shop. The two are the founders of Frikadelli Racing.

4. She was voted as the winner of WWCOTY

Jury women voted Schmitz as the winner of the WWCOTY Women of the worth award. Women’s world car of the year executive president, Martha Garcia confidently said that Sabine was worth the award. The judges too did not have a second thought about the judgment made. She had endured too many things in nurturing racing and had so much tolerance and was a risk-taker. She also became a victor in many racings such as CHC and VLN. She also won the Ford Fiesta hybrid car championship in 1995.

5. She was the queen of Nurburgring

Sabine Schmitz, By renn.tv,

She won the name Queen of Nurburgring as a result of this career. She was the most famous female racing driver in the world. She is believed to have gotten an interest in a Nurburgring career as she was raised in a village nestled with Nurburgring race tracks. Schmitz estimated that she had around the lengthy track at least 20000 times, increasing by approximately 1200 per year. In 1996 and 1997, she won the 24-hour Nurburgring, all with a BMW M3 Group entered and co-driven by local veteran Johannes Scheid. In 2006, Schmitz and her husband Abbelen drove the #97 Porshe in the Nurburgring VLN endurance racing series, entered by the land Motor shop.

6. She started her television career as a co-host 

Due to her popularity as the fastest tax-driven in the world and her personality, she was graced to become a Motorsport guest commentator. Since September 2006, Schmitz co-hosted a monitoring show on German television, D Motor, and also on the DMAX Tv channel. In every show, she takes up a new challenge for instance in Schmitz in a Ferrari 360 Vs a 1200-hp Race Truck. She also appeared on Fifth Gear. Her first appearance on British television in the 2002 BBC Programmed Jeremy Clarkson meets the neighbors where she took Clarkson around the Nurburgring in the ring taxi.

7. She featured in the Top Gear challenge

In 2008 Schmitz and fellow D Motor presenters, Carsten van Ryssen and  Tim Schreck featured in a Top Gear challenge of “Top Gear Vs the Germans”. 

In March 2015, The Guardian featured a satirical article calling for Schmitz to be the new presenter of Top Gear to gracefully cancel the program, 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.  The Daily Telegraph reported that Schmitz had been selected as a presenter on the revamped Top Gear.

8. She was the world’s best cab driver

MSC Adenau e.V. im ADAC Porsche 911 GT3 R Abbelen, Klaus Schmitz, Sabine Brück, Christopher Huisman, Patrick, By Neuwieser from Germany –

She beat Jeremy in a diesel Jag S-Type, and nearly beat him in a Ford Transit Van with a terrified Hamster on board. She is Sabine Schmitz, and she is officially the world’s best cab driver.

9. She was a woman on a mission

Seeing a woman on TV who was not only a great driver but witty and confident enough to talk a bit of smack, inspired so many other women involved in cars. Schmitz never really got the same dismissive “for a woman” qualifiers that unfairly color the accomplishments of many other famous women in motorsports. She was the only woman to win the  24 Hours Nurburgring which she did twice. She was also the first woman to get a championship title in the Nürburgring-based VLN endurance series. No one could dismiss her as only being talented “for a woman.” 

10. She Changed the automotive world

Schmitz changed that perception to bits for car-loving women around the world. Like Denise McCluggage, Pat Moss, Michèle Mouton, and many others before her, she showed that it was possible for women not to be too much of a fish out of the water at motorsport events. If anyone ever gave you any grief for being there, the clear answer was to do as Sabine did time and time again: put the doubters in their place. Therefore the more women are out there in the car world, the less shocking it is for everybody else to see us in that space.