{"id":78427,"date":"2021-03-17T16:49:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:49:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=78427"},"modified":"2021-03-17T16:49:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T23:49:57","slug":"queen-of-the-nurburgring-passes-at-age-51","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/queen-of-the-nurburgring-passes-at-age-51\/","title":{"rendered":"Queen of the N\u00fcrburgring Passes at Age 51"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The first woman to win the N\u00fcrburgring 24 Hours and one of motor racing’s highest-profile female drivers in the world passed away today, at the age of 51-years-old, following a long battle with cancer.<\/p>\n

German racing driver Sabine Schmitz, who was also a regular guest on UK TV motoring show “Top Gear”, enjoyed a long career in the motorsports arena where she founded a race team with her husband Klaus Abbelen and also raced for the Porsche motorsport team. Due to her love for the N\u00fcrburgring circuit in western Germany, Schmitz also became a \u2018Ring Taxi\u2019 driver where it is estimated that she completed more than 30,000 laps of the famed circuit.<\/p>\n

Following the passing of this motorsport\u2019s diva, both fans and others within the sport went to social media to share their condolences.<\/p>\n

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#NLS<\/a> – Very sad to hear that Sabine Schmitz (1969-2021) has passed away. The “Queen of Nordschleife” was a crowd favourite due to her open, humorous way. The two-time @24hNBR<\/a> winner was an icon at the wheel of the #Frikadelli<\/a> #Porsche<\/a>. Our sympathy goes to her family and friends pic.twitter.com\/ZHXbC1R6Wk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Porsche Motorsport (@PorscheRaces) March 17, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n