NÜRBURG, Germany — Sabine Schmitz, the primary and solely feminine race automotive driver to win the annual 24-hour race on the famed Nürburgring circuit and a famend TV persona, has died. She was 51.

Schmitz had been in poor health with most cancers since 2017 and continued racing till 2019. The 24-hour race’s organizers stated she died Tuesday following “a years-long battle along with her illness.”

Schmitz grew up close to the Nürburgring, a fearsome monitor which winds by the hills of western Germany. Its 13-mile Nordschleife configuration is thought to be one of the crucial demanding and harmful tracks on this planet.

Schmitz moved by lower-level racing classes earlier than profitable the 24-hour race in 1996 and 1997 as a part of a crew driving a BMW M3. She additionally received the VLN championship of endurance races on the Nürburgring in 1998.

Schmitz was a Nürburgring specialist with not less than 20,000 laps of the monitor on her personal and in “Ring Taxi” rides for vacationers. She additionally ran her personal crew, Frikadelli Racing, along with her husband.

In 2004, Schmitz was featured for the primary time on the British motoring TV present “Prime Gear” in a phase concerning the Nordschleife. She quickly turned an everyday visitor star and fan favourite, and from 2016 was a part of the present’s common crew. In a single notable look, she posted a aggressive time on the Nordschleife behind the wheel of a van. The BBC stated the following episode of the long-running present will likely be devoted to Schmitz.

“Sabine radiated positivity, at all times wore her cheeky smile irrespective of how exhausting issues bought – and was a pressure of nature for girls drivers within the motoring world,” government producer Clare Pizey informed the BBC.

Schmitz additionally labored on a present on German TV and ran a vacationer ranch close to the Nürburgring.