Top Gear presenter Sabine Schmitz passes away aged 51

Sabine Schmitz has passed away at the age of 51. The only female winner of the 24 Hours of Nürburgring died of a rare form of cancer.

The queen of the Nürburgring

Schmitz became famous in 1996 when she became the first woman ever to win the 24 Hours of Nürburgring. She achieved this victory together with Johannes Scheid and Hans Widmann in the BMW M3. A year later, she did it again and won the VLN-championship. Later, Schmidt impressed with her own team Frikadelli Racing, which she had founded with her husband Klaus Abbelen.

However, Schmitz had to deal with a rare form of cancer in 2017. The woman received several chemo treatments, but the cancer kept coming back. In 2019, Schmitz still crawled behind the wheel, but she had to quit in 2020 with pain in her heart. Schmitz was 51 years old. 

In the United kingdom, she perhaps is best known for her role on the BBC show Top Gear. She briefly joined Jeremy Clarkson on the show back in 2004. When Chris Evans revamped the show in 2015, she became part of the presenting team.