Sabine Schmitz is gone...

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stuartinmn
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Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by stuartinmn »

Sabine Schmitz dies from cancer at age 51. Very sad news. :( https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... es-aged-51
gray635
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by gray635 »

Very sad, indeed. I always enjoyed her appearances on Top Gear. Thanks for posting this. I probably would have missed it otherwise.
tn535i
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by tn535i »

The first time I heard of her was where she ran a Transit van around the ring, passing porky's and other really fast cars in a delivery van. Seemed like a really genuine person, not your typical self absorbed TV personality.
rodpaine
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by rodpaine »

Very sorry to hera of this loss. She was certainly quite a woman driver and I enjoyed her video's. I know many of us will miss her. I wish we had more like her in the automobile world.
-Rod
stuartinmn
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by stuartinmn »

Besides her appearances on Top Gear and her fame as the driver of the M5 'Ring Taxi', she was also a pretty fierce race driver. It's worth searching on Youtube for some of the in-car videos of her charging through the field in various races (although they were mostly in Porsches.)
BMWCCA2
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by BMWCCA2 »

rodpaine wrote: Mar 17, 2021 2:38 PMShe was certainly quite a woman driver and I enjoyed her video's. I know many of us will miss her. I wish we had more like her in the automobile world.
Agreed . . . but she was actually quite a driver, period!
Damn few men can do what she did.
And they start out with the advantage of . . . being born male. :up:
Adam W in MN
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by Adam W in MN »

Super sad, she was a huge talent
laguna30
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by laguna30 »

My son texted me
I first thought car crash

Then I learned cancer
Age 51
Some things are just wrong

If I am not mistaken her greatest victories were driving BMWs ( twice at the 24 hour of the ring )

The Queen is gone - There is a disturbance in the force
We want for a smile and a laugh that is no more
Shawn D.
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by Shawn D. »

What a terrible loss. It would have been amazing to have gotten a lap with her in the Ring Taxi.
rodpaine
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by rodpaine »

For those of you who may have never actually seen Sabine Schmit in action, here is a link to one of her runs at the RING, driving a Porsche 991 G3 in Sept 2015. She certainly was a very skilled driver!
(url)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnALDbokB0g(/url)
-Rod

I just found another video posted two days ago about Sabine's life, it is here at (url)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7d94o2TIvE(/url)
-Rod
stuartinmn
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by stuartinmn »

Someone on the Grassroots Motorsports forum posted a link to a good story about her on Reddit :
https://old.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/ ... itz_story/

When I first started going to the Nürburgring in the late 1990s, Sabine Schmitz was one of the BMW Ring Taxi drivers. She was a successful VLN racer and pretty famous in Nürburg, but not anywhere else.

Nürburg was a quieter place back then - Sabine and I had a bunch of mutual friends, so we'd often end up in the same bars. At midnight in the Pistenklaus on a rainy weekend in 2000, several of us were debating whether to drive at all the following day. There was even more rain in the forecast, and the circuit isn't forgiving.

Sabine offered to demonstrate the "wet lines" for us in the Ring Taxi. The wet lines on a racing circuit are quite different to the dry ones - to avoid laid-down rubber and puddles you have to take a circuitous route around the track and it varies a lot according to how wet it is and how recently it rained. It's complicated. The Ring Taxi normally booked up months in advance, but they'd had cancellations because of the weather and she was sure it'd be fine. We were to rock up at the trackside office at 10 and say Sabine sent us.

The Pistenklaus closed and we all went our separate ways.

The following morning we staggered into the little office. It was raining far more than the previous day. The car park was almost empty, and the only vehicles that were going out on track were the usual flotilla of panel vans - fearless motorcyclists who couldn't ride in the rain but could sure take out their bike transporter.

I was terribly excited to be on a guest list, but I also didn't feel very well at all. Ten minutes later we were sat in the M5, with Sabine heading out onto the track. Sabine was as chatty as ever and seemed positively excited about driving around the track in a deluge. Maybe she didn't get hangovers.

Once we were through the entry barrier, Sabine floored it. The M5 was a big car but it lifted its skirts pretty effectively and, as we flew up towards Döttinger Höhe, she started to chat about the wet line through Tiergarten. The panel vans ahead were seeing the familiar white M5 in the rear view mirror and pulling right. Sabine waved a cheery "thanks" to them all.

The wipers were on full speed but we were going fast enough that they were mostly pushing water down the windscreen rather than off it. I was in the back, and my hangover had some questions.

We whooshed through Hatzenbach sideways with Sabine cackling and the rest of us becoming a bit less chatty. I held onto the grab handle on the door. Maybe she was still drunk?

About a third of the way around the track we came down into the corner after Hocheichen. I don't think it has a name, because it's not that much of a corner - it's a very slight right-hander over a little rise and is flat out in any of the cars I've driven around that track.

As we gained pace towards it, it occurred to me that this may not in fact be a flat out corner in a two-ton car with four people in it during a rainstorm. Sabine, however, evidently did not share this opinion and kept chatting away with her foot resolutely on the floor.

As we went over the top of the rise, she lost it. We were at 100+ mph and the rear snapped viciously. We were certainly going to spin, but there was also a lot of rollover potential. I sunk down in the seat and held my belt. Hopefully we'd slide as much on the black stuff as possible so that we would scrub off some speed before we hit the barrier on the left.

I'm not entirely sure what happened. Sabine shouted "HA!" and we were on the left side of the track heading up to Flugplatz. She had her foot on the floor again. "HA!", she giggled, as we went so light over Flugplatz that I gagged briefly. Doesn't she know there's another corner here?

I managed not to barf during the rest of the lap, but I don't remember any of the tips she gave us.

Sabine was a well-known attractive woman in a predominantly male environment, but she navigated it with decorum and humility and was just very easy to spend time around. There's a lot of ego in motorsport and, as far as I know, she had none of it.

I'm never going to understand the wet lines at the Nürburgring, but that's okay. I'm not Sabine Schmitz.
wkohler
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by wkohler »

That’s a great story. Haha I watched the old Top Gear Ford Transit anniversary deal where she did a 10.08 lap in a Diesel Transit. She was very fun to watch. Was shocked when I heard. What a shame.
Kenny Blankenship
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by Kenny Blankenship »

stuartinmn wrote: Mar 19, 2021 4:21 PM Someone on the Grassroots Motorsports forum posted a link to a good story about her on Reddit :
https://old.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/ ... itz_story/

When I first started going to the Nürburgring in the late 1990s, Sabine Schmitz was one of the BMW Ring Taxi drivers. She was a successful VLN racer and pretty famous in Nürburg, but not anywhere else.

Nürburg was a quieter place back then - Sabine and I had a bunch of mutual friends, so we'd often end up in the same bars. At midnight in the Pistenklaus on a rainy weekend in 2000, several of us were debating whether to drive at all the following day. There was even more rain in the forecast, and the circuit isn't forgiving.

Sabine offered to demonstrate the "wet lines" for us in the Ring Taxi. The wet lines on a racing circuit are quite different to the dry ones - to avoid laid-down rubber and puddles you have to take a circuitous route around the track and it varies a lot according to how wet it is and how recently it rained. It's complicated. The Ring Taxi normally booked up months in advance, but they'd had cancellations because of the weather and she was sure it'd be fine. We were to rock up at the trackside office at 10 and say Sabine sent us.

The Pistenklaus closed and we all went our separate ways.

The following morning we staggered into the little office. It was raining far more than the previous day. The car park was almost empty, and the only vehicles that were going out on track were the usual flotilla of panel vans - fearless motorcyclists who couldn't ride in the rain but could sure take out their bike transporter.

I was terribly excited to be on a guest list, but I also didn't feel very well at all. Ten minutes later we were sat in the M5, with Sabine heading out onto the track. Sabine was as chatty as ever and seemed positively excited about driving around the track in a deluge. Maybe she didn't get hangovers.

Once we were through the entry barrier, Sabine floored it. The M5 was a big car but it lifted its skirts pretty effectively and, as we flew up towards Döttinger Höhe, she started to chat about the wet line through Tiergarten. The panel vans ahead were seeing the familiar white M5 in the rear view mirror and pulling right. Sabine waved a cheery "thanks" to them all.

The wipers were on full speed but we were going fast enough that they were mostly pushing water down the windscreen rather than off it. I was in the back, and my hangover had some questions.

We whooshed through Hatzenbach sideways with Sabine cackling and the rest of us becoming a bit less chatty. I held onto the grab handle on the door. Maybe she was still drunk?

About a third of the way around the track we came down into the corner after Hocheichen. I don't think it has a name, because it's not that much of a corner - it's a very slight right-hander over a little rise and is flat out in any of the cars I've driven around that track.

As we gained pace towards it, it occurred to me that this may not in fact be a flat out corner in a two-ton car with four people in it during a rainstorm. Sabine, however, evidently did not share this opinion and kept chatting away with her foot resolutely on the floor.

As we went over the top of the rise, she lost it. We were at 100+ mph and the rear snapped viciously. We were certainly going to spin, but there was also a lot of rollover potential. I sunk down in the seat and held my belt. Hopefully we'd slide as much on the black stuff as possible so that we would scrub off some speed before we hit the barrier on the left.

I'm not entirely sure what happened. Sabine shouted "HA!" and we were on the left side of the track heading up to Flugplatz. She had her foot on the floor again. "HA!", she giggled, as we went so light over Flugplatz that I gagged briefly. Doesn't she know there's another corner here?

I managed not to barf during the rest of the lap, but I don't remember any of the tips she gave us.

Sabine was a well-known attractive woman in a predominantly male environment, but she navigated it with decorum and humility and was just very easy to spend time around. There's a lot of ego in motorsport and, as far as I know, she had none of it.

I'm never going to understand the wet lines at the Nürburgring, but that's okay. I'm not Sabine Schmitz.
The "wet line" was that area in your underwear between your legs. Sabine was the greatest...nobody has such personality.
John in VA
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by John in VA »

glowell222
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by glowell222 »

It was a sad day for all of her family and friends, and for Nürburg and her farm. Frikadelli Porsche and the Nürburgring ran a silent lap in her honor.
Mike W.
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by Mike W. »

I'd heard of her before this thread, barely, but heard of her is about it. But watched a few youtubes, and wow! A highly skilled driver, an attractive woman, but her attitude and smile, WOW! Always smiling, always laughing, but she sure knew how to drive, especially at the 'Ring.
garageboy
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by garageboy »

I'm hoping to re-visit the Ring in September. I always have dinner at least one evening at her Mom's hotel. I don't know if I will this time... if I see her Mom I might break down in front of her. This is too sad. Fucking cancer. :x
stuartinmn
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by stuartinmn »

Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.

edit: Link has been taken down, but here is a new one (it may not last either.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPD4U4BLpBQ
Last edited by stuartinmn on Apr 07, 2021 6:10 PM, edited 2 times in total.
garageboy
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by garageboy »

stuartinmn wrote: Apr 06, 2021 4:18 PM Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.
I haven't watched it because I was hoping they edited out the pig Clarkson's grope of her but I didn't want to see that again... Is it gone now?
wkohler
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by wkohler »

stuartinmn wrote: Apr 06, 2021 4:18 PM Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.
Thank you for sharing that. I enjoyed it.
topher800
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by topher800 »

wkohler wrote: Apr 06, 2021 5:07 PM
stuartinmn wrote: Apr 06, 2021 4:18 PM Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.
Thank you for sharing that. I enjoyed it.
+1
Ordnator
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by Ordnator »

topher800 wrote: Apr 06, 2021 9:16 PM
wkohler wrote: Apr 06, 2021 5:07 PM
stuartinmn wrote: Apr 06, 2021 4:18 PM Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.
Thank you for sharing that. I enjoyed it.
+1
+ 2
vinceg101
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by vinceg101 »

Ordnator wrote: Apr 06, 2021 11:00 PM
topher800 wrote: Apr 06, 2021 9:16 PM
wkohler wrote: Apr 06, 2021 5:07 PM
stuartinmn wrote: Apr 06, 2021 4:18 PM Here is the Top Gear tribute show to Sabine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7CKFvvzKSI Since it wasn't posted by the BBC it may get taken down, so watch it while you can.
Thank you for sharing that. I enjoyed it.
+1
+ 2
+3.
That made me smile.
tn535i
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Re: Sabine Schmitz is gone...

Post by tn535i »

Worth watching... +4 and more
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