Top Gear’s Sabine Schmitz, 51, dies after three-year cancer battle: Racing world bids farewell to ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’ as Jeremy Clarkson mourns loss of ‘such a sunny person’
- The German driver known as the ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’ revealed last July that she had been suffering from ‘an extremely persistent cancer’ since 2017
- She was well known to British audiences for her appearances on BBC’s Top Gear
- Schmitz rose to fame on her home track of the Nurburgring in western Germany
- The track today mourned her as ‘its most famous female racing driver’
Top Gear‘s Sabine Schmitz has died aged 51 after a three-year battle with cancer.
The German, dubbed the ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’, revealed last July that she had been suffering from ‘an extremely persistent cancer’ since 2017.
Schmitz was best known to British audiences for her appearances on the BBC’s Top Gear programme since 2004, including races with Jeremy Clarkson, Chris Evans and Paddy McGuinness.
The Nurburgring, where she shot to fame as a ‘ring taxi’ driver, revealed Schmitz’s death in a statement today, writing: ‘The Nurburgring 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!’
Clarkson, who hosted Top Gear until 2015, tweeted: ‘Terrible news about Sabine Schmitz. Such a sunny person and so full of beans.’
McGuinness, one of the most recent hosts of the BBC show, shared a photo of he and Schmitz wearing crash helmets inside a car, writing: ‘She gave me pointers on how to drive a Ferrari very fast and hunted me down in a banger race. Brilliantly bonkers and an amazing human being! RIP the great Sabine Schmitz.’
In a heartbreaking post on Facebook last year, Schmitz explained that her absence from the Porsche team at the Nurburgring Endurance Series was due to her illness.
She wrote: ‘Dear friends of professional motor sport, many of you have probably wondered why I was on the list of participants on our Porsche in the NSL and then didn’t drive after all.
Sabine Schmitz in her Porsche racing overalls. She has been absent from the team at last year’s Nürburgring Endurance Series when she revealed her illness
Top Gear presenter Sabine Schmitz answers media questions during the launch of Top Gear at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey in 2016
Schmitz revealed last July that she was suffering from a persistent form of cancer
Top Gear presenters (left to right) Chris Harris, Rory Reid, Sabine Schmitz, Chris Evans, Eddie Jordan and The Stig during the launch of the new-look car show in 2016
‘I would like to provide enlightenment here, I think I owe it to my/our fans!
‘Since the end of 2017, I have been fighting an extremely persistent cancer that has not been eliminated with the resources so far. It got a little better – but now it’s come back with full force.
‘Now I have to draw all the strength and nerve to master the next powerful therapies … hoping something [good] will happen. So I say goodbye ‘probably’ for the first time this season.
‘In addition, I would like to thank everyone for their help and support in my everyday life, and encouragement in writing!
‘So sweethearts, now you have an update. Please stay healthy and cheerful, see you at the ‘Ring.’
Ms Schmitz first appeared on Top Gear in 2004 when she tried to beat Clarkson’s Jaguar S-Type lap around the Nürburgring – in a Ford Transit van. She managed to get within 10 seconds of the sports car.
Sabine Schmitz poses with her Porsche ahead of a race in 2010
Schmitz inside her Porsche 997 in 2010
Top Gear presenter Chris Harris uploaded this post today of him playfully holding Schmitz around the chest