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Nurburgring to name a corner after Sabine Schmitz

Situated near the racing driver’s place of birth

If there is one corner at the Nurburgring that you have to get right, it's this one. TWEET BY NURBURGRING

German racing driver and TV personality Sabine Schmitz, who sadly passed away at the age of 51 not too long ago, is to have a corner named after her on the famous Nurburgring Nordschleife. The honor was announced recently, and the official inauguration of the Sabine Schmitz corner will take place as part of the six-hour race of the Nurburgring endurance series on September 11. The left-hander, which is the first corner on the Nordschleife after turning off the Grand Prix track, was chosen as it borders the town of Nurburg where Sabine grew up just meters away from the iconic track.

The well-known and much-loved racing driver had been fighting cancer since 2017, and died from the disease on March 16, 2021. Sabine left a big gap in German motorsports, and especially in the Eifel region. As the daughter of a hotelier family from Nurburg, she was associated with the Green Hell from birth and completed her first laps of the circuit in her mother’s private car shortly after she had gotten her driving license. While her career was supposed to see her work as a hotel manager, her love of motorsport ultimately proved stronger, and she took part in her first race in 1990.

Sabine Schmitz grew up in the town near her namesake corner. INSTAGRAM POST BY SABINE SCHMITZ

In 1996, Schmitz even made history when she won the legendary 24 Hours of Nurburgring together with Hans Widmann and Johannes Scheid as the first and only woman ever to do so. She repeated the feat one year later, and was also victorious at the 1998 VLN endurance championship, really cementing her title as Queen of Nurburgring. Schmitz was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2017, and despite a heroic battle against the illness, she ultimately succumbed to it. With a corner named after her, Sabine Schmitz is joining a small group of famous individuals who were bestowed with this honor. Other areas of the track dedicated to racing drivers include the Michael Schumacher S, the Caracciola Karussell, and the Stefan Bellof S.



Frank Schuengel

Frank is a German e-commerce executive who loves his wife, a Filipina, so much he decided to base himself in Manila. He has interesting thoughts on Philippine motoring. He writes the aptly named ‘Frankly’ column.



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