Sabine Schmitz, “Queen of the Nürburgring” has died at the age of 51 after a long battle with cancer.

Sabine grew up next to one the world’s most famous tracks and had always loved speed and by her own account completed more than 20,000 laps of that circuit.
 

Schmitz was a popular German racing driver and former presenter of  BBC’s  “Top Gear,” announced in 2017 that she had cancer and after a long battle passed away at a hospital in Trier, in Germany. 
 

Schmitz was called “Queen of the Nürburgring” and the “fastest taxi driver in the world” — for driving thrill-seeking racing fans around the track in a BMW. She won the popular Nürburgring 24-hour race  in 1996 in a BMW M3. She was the first woman to do so and then won it again the following year.
 

She joined “Top Gear” in 2016 after several previous appearances on the show when she co-hosted the show with Chris Evans.
 

Sabine Schmitz was born on May 14, 1969 in Adenau, in Western Germany. The daughter of a wholesaler and a hotel manager in the village of Nurburg, near the border with Belgium, she grew up less than a mile from the Nürburgring complex, and was able to recite the names of the 73 turns by heart. She first completed it at age 17 — with her mother’s car, before she had a driving license.
 

A statement announcing the news of Sabine’s death read: "The Nurburgring has lost its most famous female racing driver.
 

"Sabine Schmitz passed away far too early after a long illness. We will miss her and her cheerful nature. Rest in peace Sabine!"