Born 14th May 1969, Sabine Schmitz passed away on 21st March 2021, following a three year battle with cancer, this unique force of nature whose life was illuminated by her sunny, friendly, down to earth disposition and indomitable way, left us at the impossibly young age of 51 leaving behind a legacy that can not be matched – never more aptly stated; “only the good die young”.
With a love of speed whether on roller skates, her beloved horses or indeed the helipcopter that she flew, she was first acquainted with the ‘Green Hell’ in the back of her fathers purple ford Granada aged just 5 or 6, “it was the scariest moment of my life”! she said “I felt more secure when I was in control”.
At the age of 17 (still too young to drive in Germany), she secretly took her mothers BMW to the ring declaring that she was 18, and so her journey begun in becoming ‘the queen of the ring’ it is said that she has completed 30,000 laps…
In 2006 & 2007 she won the 24hour race in an BMW E36 M3, the first only woman to have won this race and in 2008 she won the VLN challenge.
She would say on a BMW video “I like my job driving all day on the Nordschleife in the ring taxi, it’s really fun to scare people Ha Ha”. With her disarming, cute and Doris Day girl-next-door looks, Sabine it was said, had to be one of the scariest people alive, with her ability to provide the fare payers with her complete and extensive knowledge in all weathers and at racing speeds on this altogether challenging circuit, and incidentally ‘the most technical’ in the world, it was a very special and unique experience indeed.
She was born in Adenau, just 300 metres from the track at her parents hotel and went on the run her own bar close to the BMW test centre at the Nurburgring and before fame inevitably came her way in the Top Gear programme it would not be unusual to have her serving evening guests at the famous Pistenklaus hotel/restaurant owned by her family and without the guests in the early days knowing who she was!
It was this down to earth nature that was so disarming. Her modesty and infectious humour screened this at heart quite shy person, but it was the heart of this lioness that actually piloted ‘the quickly silenced’ in the famous BMW ring taxis.
There is a famous public viewing area at the ‘ring called ‘Brunchen’ and I can still picture Sabine playing with some testosterone fuelled driver in his wailing yellow Ferrari as would a cat with a mouse, the Ferrari driver intent on overtaking but just at the moment the driver sensed an opportunity to pass Sabine would gently bring out the back of the ring taxi effectively reducing the width of the track and denying the overtake. Rest in Peace Sabine you brought much joy to many lives….
