After the death of The Queen of The Nürburgring, Sabine Schmitz, earlier this year, her family, friends and many admirers launched a campaign to honour her name at the track. The owners of the track have now made their decision.
Taking nothing away from a terrific campaign, given the popularity Sabine enjoyed, we guess it was a question of when the decision to honour Sabine was made, not if.
Like everyone else, we’re delighted to see the right decision has been made. They could have fluffed it, of course, but credit to them they didn’t.
Sabine was the undisputed queen of the ‘Ring. She grew up in the village that nestles in the centre of the track – imagine that! At the wheel of one of the fleets ‘Ring Taxis’ used to show enthusiasts around the track, at the same time scaring the living daylights out of them, it is reported she clocked up over 30,000 laps of the track.
Probably helped by the inch perfect intimate knowledge of the track, she was the first – and only – woman to win the awesome Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race.
The decision the Nürburgring bosses made was to name the very first corner the Sabine Schmitz Kurve.
The first corner for the first lady, we think that is very appropriate.
