BMW RACING LEGENDS: SABINE SCHMITZ - QUEEN OF THE RING | CONDOR SPEED SHOP

Few figures in motorsport have left behind a legacy as unmistakable as Sabine Schmitz. From a young age, she displayed a natural talent for racing—from sneaking away from her family’s hotel near the Nürburgring Nordschleife to drive laps as a young girl, to ultimately earning her reputation as a master of the circuit and “The Queen of the Ring.” Perhaps even more enduring than her talents behind the wheel was her larger-than-life personality, which earned her a global following through her many television appearances. Jeremy Clarkson said of her, “When she walked into a room it was as though everything just got a bit brighter and a bit louder.” That sentiment is shared throughout the automotive world, and as the years pass, her legend only seems to grow stronger.

Born Sabine Reck on May 14, 1969, in Adenau, Germany, she grew up in a world where racing was literally part of the family business. That same year, her mother founded the Hotel am Tiergarten, an establishment nestled alongside the iconic Nürburgring Nordschleife, just meters from the circuit’s Start/Finish line. Motorsport wasn’t simply something happening nearby; it was woven into the fabric of the family’s livelihood, with drivers, crew members, and team staff regularly passing through the hotel and restaurant at a time when the Nürburgring hosted everything from Formula 1 to professional touring car racing.

Sabine was fascinated by speed from an early age. She later recalled having little interest in the typical toys or hobbies associated with girls her age, instead gravitating toward activities that allowed her to test her limits. She became accomplished in horseback riding, skating, and cycling, pursuits that each demanded a combination of balance, precision, and an instinct for speed, all of which would serve her well throughout her career.

It wasn’t long before Sabine began getting to know her literal home track. She later recalled, “At 6 years old, in the back seat of Dad’s purple Ford Granada. I was crying. I was so afraid. We have a town called Adenauer nearby that’s halfway down the Nordschleife, and you could leave the track to do the shopping and get back on the track to go home. We used to do that all the time, especially my dad. He used the track like a normal road, so it was good for my race career but not so good for the stuff we had to deliver to our hotel.”

Those early experiences may have frightened her at first, but it wasn’t long before fear gave way to fascination. Sabine began regularly joining professional drivers as a passenger and student, eager to learn the intricacies of the track and the art of driving. By the age of 16, she had the entire Nordschleife memorized. Though she was still too young to hold a driving license, she would regularly sneak away from her duties at the family hotel to turn laps in her mother’s BMW 316i (an E30) whenever the opportunity arose. There were, understandably, a few close calls along the way, but Sabine always managed to return the car without a scratch. Her biggest problem being; coming up with the money to replace the petrol she had burned through on the track.

Over the next few years, Sabine would put those youthful experiences to use. By the age of 20, she was competing in the Nürburgring 24 Hours behind the wheel of a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, where she and her teammates finished fourth in class. While she took her driving seriously, racing was only one part of Sabine’s increasingly busy life. She was also becoming an integral part of the family business, developing her skills as a hospitality professional and wine expert while helping grow the family hotel and restaurant businesses.

Behind the wheel, Sabine spent the next couple of seasons racing Fords, most of which proved to be unreliable and uncompetitive, before moving to a manufacturer that was already deeply familiar to her. Sabine made her first racing appearance with BMW at the 1993 Nürburgring 24 Hours, driving a Team Fina-sponsored E30 325i. Alongside teammates Mario Merten and Philippe Siffert, she finished ninth in class and 18th overall. It was a welcome improvement over the DNFs she had endured during the previous couple of seasons, but the result itself was only part of what made the experience significant. The familiarity of their BMW E30, which shared its chassis with the 316i she had first taken around the Nordschleife just a few years earlier, sparked an enduring relationship between Sabine and the German marque. 

Following a 3rd place class finish in the 1994 race, Sabine signed on with BMW to compete in the South African Touring Car Championship in one of their factory E36/STW entries. She joined teammates Deon Joubert and Shaun Van Der Linde, both of whom were already seasoned veterans of the series. Far from home, Sabine struggled initially with the unfamiliar conditions, circuits, and sprint racing format, which contrasted sharply with the calculated strategy and consistency required in endurance racing.

She was starting to get the hang of it by midseason when she and Toyota driver Mike White were involved in a serious accident at Killarney during an open practice session for that weekend’s race. Sabine suffered multiple neck and knee injuries, forcing her to miss most of the remaining season. She finished last in the points standings due to the missed races and unfamiliarity with the tracks, and returned home to Germany, fully healed but still looking for more within her racing career. 

One positive takeaway from her South African Touring Car experience was that she familiarized herself with BMW’s newest racing platform, the E36. The new year brought updated rules allowing the E36 to be eligible for Class 2 competition at the Nurburgring 24 Hour race. Sabine soon joined an all-German team, Scuderia Augustusburg Brühl, to compete in the 1996 race, hoping for a shot at overall victory.

The new chassis proved to be a great match for Sabine and her teammates, Johannes Scheid and Hans Widmann. Together, they made history. Sabine became the first woman to win the Nürburgring 24 Hours in 1996, while the E36 M3 dominated the race, securing all three podium positions and seven of the top ten finishing positions.

Sabine went on to win the race again in 1997, becoming a two-time Nürburgring 24 Hours champion and firmly establishing herself as one of the defining drivers of the Nordschleife. For Sabine, the circuit she had grown up treating almost like a backyard playground had now become the place where she was making racing history.

Over the next few years, Sabine’s legend continued to grow, particularly in Europe, thanks to her historic success at the Nürburgring. In addition to her 24-hour wins, she became VLN champion in 1998. Meanwhile, all of this attention in the motor racing trenches started to attract the interest of television and the media. So much so that she was asked to appear on the BBC’s *Top Gear*, which at the time was in its fourth season.

Host Jeremy Clarkson was due to test a Jaguar S-Type diesel in Germany, and producers decided to present him with the challenge of getting it around the Nordschleife in under 10 minutes, with Sabine as his instructor. Sabine’s outgoing personality and flair paired wonderfully with Clarkson’s arrogance and sense of humour, and after two days of trying, he was able to clock a lap time of 9 minutes, 59 seconds. Sabine poked fun and claimed she could match that time in a van (which she nearly did in a later episode, recording a 10-minute, 8-second lap). She went on to put in a lap of her own in the Jaguar, during which the production crew had to hire a professional driver to keep up with her in their camera cars. By the time they got the footage they needed, Sabine had beaten Jeremy by 47 seconds and was on her way to becoming a household name among petrolheads around the world.

Amid her racing career and hospitality entrepreneurship, Sabine combined the two and used her mastery of the Nürburgring to bring joy and thrills to others. She also became famous for her work as a driver of BMW’s Nürburgring Ring Taxi, offering high-speed passenger laps to anyone brave enough to join her. The BMW M5s used for these laps, including the E60 M5, quickly became legendary attractions for motorsport fans visiting from all over the world.

In 2005, Sabine and fellow Nürburgring racer and businessman Klaus Abbelen founded Frikadelli Racing. Together, they continued to build on their shared passion for motorsport through a team that would go on to establish itself as a serious contender in endurance racing. Among its notable achievements was an appearance at the 2016 Rolex 24 at Daytona, where Sabine joined the team for its American debut, as well as its 2023 win at the Nürburgring 24 Hours in a Ferrari 296 GT3, the first victory by a non-German marque in over 20 years.

Sadly, in July 2020, Sabine publicly revealed that she had been suffering from "an extremely persistent cancer" since late 2017. She explained that she had initially sought treatment, and for a while her condition was improving, but she had relapsed and would be undergoing further treatment. Despite her illness, Sabine remained connected to the world of motorsport and continued to make appearances as a presenter on the revived BBC series *Top Gear*. On March 16, 2021, Sabine Schmitz died of cancer at the age of 51.

Sabine Schmitz left an undeniable mark on the automotive world, not only through what she accomplished on track, but through the warmth, humor, and infectious enthusiasm with which she shared her passion. As a driver, she made history; as a personality, she made the Nürburgring feel a little more welcoming to everyone who loved it. In 2021, shortly after her death, the circuit honored her by naming the first corner of the Nordschleife the “Sabine Schmitz Curve,” ensuring that her name would forever be part of the place that shaped her life. Her presence continues to be felt at the circuit, and her legacy lives on through the countless fans she inspired, as well as Frikadelli Racing, the team she co-founded with Klaus Abbelen.

Thank you for taking the time to read our BMW Racing Legends Series piece on Sabine Schmitz. As always, please stay tuned to our resources section for more historical content such as this, and visit condorspeedshop.com for historical BMW racing-inspired merchandise and memorabilia. We now have limited-edition pins available for purchase, the first of which commemorates the iconic 1982 Spa 24 Hours-winning Bastos Racing BMW 528i.