No big intro, just the stories that BTGers have shared with me over the last 24-hours:
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First time I met Sabine was in Daytona a couple years ago actually. She and my wife and my friend’s John and Janine (J2 Racing) were all hanging out so we got to chatting. My wife is German so Sabine asked me if I spoke, I was such a blubbering star struck fan boy that all I could think of was “Arsch frisst hose” which is what my mother in law calls it when someone walks around with their pants stuck in their ass crack. My wife Lisa was clearly mortified, but Sabine was thoroughly amusedand later that year at N24 I saw Sabine in the pit lane, she pointed at me and yelled “Hey, Arsch frisst hose!”
Unfortunately I was not lucky enough to know Sabine any better than that, by all accounts she was a great person and an inspiration to me and many others. I can’t think of a driver who has brought more positive attention to the Ring for people like me who would have never known about the place if it weren’t for Top Gear. I met my wife because of the Nürburgring, my life literally changed the first time I ever visited the place. And that in a round about way is because of Sabine Schmitz the Ring Queen.
Godspeed Queen Sabine
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The one and only time i met Sabine was at breakfast in the Hotel am Tiergarten … i was thinking it was early in the 2000’s …. looking through photos this evening it was 2005. Later that day she caught and passed us whilst she was taxi driving. I was in the back of our car and one of the lads excitedly announced “It’s Sabine driving” … I managed to get a few a few pics off before the inevitable happened and she passed us. What an inspiration! RIP Sabine.”
A person who made you think “I must work on a better me” because of her cheerful, kind way of being. Queen, ambassador, legend.”
Such a sad day, she was such a happy person and a great driver. Feel like every time I met her I walked away with another story. Whether it was getting drunk on alcoholic custard in her wild west style ranch complete with stripper pole or collecting a trophy next to her and her bro in the v4 class, which you’d think she’d be blasé about but she was genuinely thrilled with. One of my best memories was racing VLN and getting a little nudge in the rear going up Kesselchen and thinking who the hell is that and then looking in the mirror and realizing it was Sabine in her brothers e90. Still got the little pink mark on the back of my race car. She came over to me after the race to say hi and ask me to show the Pisswasser logo on the back of my race suit to her friends, they all got a kick out of it. To think I’ll never be able to race against her again and see that smile is absolutely heart breaking. A genuinely special lady.
I met her for the first time at the Save the Ring demonstration. A very warm, and open personality.
Can’t remember how many times I’ve seen her light up the rears of the V10 M5’s, not sure who enjoyed it more: the passenger, or she herself. And chatting with her at Brünnchen on any random weeknight during TF: always accessible and kind hearted.
Not to mention how she ripped through the complete field during rain-races.
A true legend. No less.
Back in 2008 Sabine appeared on top gear with Clarkson in the jag diesel. She said she could beat his lap time in a van and then wrestled with a standard transit van overtaking everything in sight. That episode showed the masses (myself included) that the Nurburgring wasn’t just a track on the computer game but a living breathing organism that is available for us all to enjoy not just the 1% of racing drivers. 2 years later I went over for my first trip and found what is one of my favourite places on earth. For that I will be forever grateful. I’ve made some amazing friends and have some even better memories. What she did for motorsport and in life will never be forgotten. A hero in everyone’s eyes.
Sad day. We lost all time legend of the Nürburgring, one of the most genuine and down to earth persons who absolutely loved life. I was fortunate enough to see her race in 2015 VLN6 and 2017 NBR24h in the Frikadelli Racings 911 GT3 R. Pic is taken by my wife in 2015 VLN 6. I wish that we can properly honor Sabines memory despite of the covid situation. It would be so cool to have local people doing a memorial drive on the track. I wish we could name a corner or a straight after her or build somekind of memorial near the track. She deserves it for being a great ambassador for the ring.
Such a cool lady. She drove my 1965 Shelby GT350 clone at an RMA track day before giving me a quick lesson in it at Spa. She laughed a lot when she drove it. Not sure if it was in a good way…
Once I’d had my stint we got out of the car and quickly nipped off for a fag.
I said “so…what do you think?”
She said “I think you want to buy another less shitty car ha ha ha ha ha!!!”You can’t argue with Sabine Schmitz telling you that can you?I did sell the Mustang and bought something “less shitty” but much cheaper which allowed me to get into historic racing. My dad passed away of cancer just over a week ago and it’s his fault I’m saddled with this stupid car addiction problem; therefore my dad is vicariously responsible for how I came to have Sabine Schmitz thrash my fake Shelby around Spa.
I’m so sorry for what Sabine and her family will have gone through over the past couple of years – my heart goes out to them totally. She was a smashing lady with big cojones and an even bigger smile – an authentic and humble superstar.
Do YOU have a Sabine story that you can share? Let us know!
