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Photo: Thomas Frey / picture alliance / dpa
The legendary racing driver and presenter Sabine Schmitz is dead. The 51-year-old died on Tuesday, as the stepbrother René Schmitz confirmed to the German press agency.
Born next to the Nürburgring in Adenau, Schmitz was the first woman in 1996 to triumph in the 24-hour race on her home track.
A year later she defended the title and in 1998 became the first woman to win the championship title in the VLN endurance series.
She gained international fame through her appearances in the British cult series "Top Gear".
In Germany, too, the “Nürburgring Queen” presented various motorsport magazines on television and chauffeured tourists and other interested parties through the “Green Hell” in a racing taxi.
The number of laps covered is more than 20,000.
Schmitz was still racing until 2019 and wanted to start in 2020 as well.
But the cancer, from which she suffered since 2017, prevented a comeback on the racetrack.
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