The Nürburgring has lost its most famous racing driver. Sabine Schmitz passed away far too early yesterday, Tuesday 16 March 2021. She was only 51 years old.

As the daughter of a hotelier family from Nürburg, Sabine Schmitz grew up with the Nürburgring. She was on the Nordschleife from an early age. "We used to drive our grandma to the hairdresser's via the Nordschleife," she told us a few years ago in an interview about the ADAC Total 24h Race. She had been racing in the Green Hell since 1990. In 1996, she was the first woman to win the 24h race at the Nürburgring alongside Johannes Scheid and Hans Widmann. The following year she repeated the victory. In 1998, she secured the title in the Veedol Endurance Cup (now the Nürburgring Endurance Series) with Johannes Scheid - also as the first lady. In 2005, Sabine Schmitz founded the Frikadelli Racing team together with her husband Klaus Abbelen.

Sabine Schmitz was also known to many Nürburgring fans as a long-time driver of the Ring Taxi. Countless co-drivers experienced a speedy drive at her side over the most demanding race track in the world - the 20.8-kilometre long Nordschleife.

In 2017, Sabine Schmitz fell ill with cancer. In 2018, she celebrated her comeback in the racing cockpit. In the middle of last year, Schmitz informed her fans of a relapse via social networks.

With Sabine Schmitz, we lose a fun-loving, dedicated woman. She was a part of the Nürburgring throughout her life and will remain so.