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Around the Nürburgring in a van

by Volker Weber

"I do that lap time with a van." That's what Sabine Schmitz, née Reck, the queen of Nürburgring, said to Jeremy Clarkson when he was finally able to run around the track in 9:59 minutes in a Jaguar. Clarkson is an excellent driver, but he has no real experience on this very difficult racetrack. Sabine Schmitz in contrast has done between 14,000 and 15,000 laps. In her own car she can do the track in eight minutes, with three passengers. I understand she burns through two sets of tires per day. So here she is trying Nürburgring in under 10 minutes - in a Diesel-powered Ford Transit which does 0-60 mph in 21 seconds. Watch her pass motorbikes:

Well, if I were Richard Hammond, I would have soiled my undies.

Update: This video of a Porsche chasing Sabine Schmitz is a repost. It shows a 9 minute lap with heavy traffic in real time.

[Thanks, Tobias]

Comments

Vans overtaking motorbikes...

Not that uncommon here actually, though most sightings are on the M25 and most culprits are Mercedes Sprinters :-P

if someone would like to do me a favour : please buy me a lap with " Frau Schmitz "

Hans Werner

Quite telling when it comes to the experience factor. While many people think they can buy skills by buying expensive material, those who have skills even can do it with a right-hand drive wall unit and still have time to laugh and chat :-)

She gets it down to 10:08, I think (watched a bitorrent of the episode, not this version), and she had to have been pushing it right to the edge - she even said she was too scared to try to push it further. For someone with so much experience on the Ring, that is saying a lot.

I did like that they brought her on to the set (might have been a week later) - and that Jeremy was comparing her to Hammond - she can do the crazy oversteer stuff, and looks better - I think the question was, "So what are you doing in the Fall?"

this chickie can really drive - clarkson has a back problem which may put him out of the driving seat for the next series of top gear and the suggestion was that she would step in - hope so.

WOW! Ich bin sprachlos!

Wow... I watched that episode, and laughted out loud when Clarksons (huge) ego was punctured by this wee slip of a girl.

I had the pleasure of being driven around Knockhill (Scotlands circuit) by Sascha - a female driver and at that stage a British Touring car driver.

I found after some practice I could actually ram my whole fist into my mouth to try and dampen down the screaming.. God, she was *good*...

---* Bill "Why wasnt I born rich instead of famous" Buchan....

Yeah, I made it....just have done one of those great ride in the Nürburgring "Ring-Taxi", this is for sure a total adventure.
Joined a ride with the new M5 (507 Horsepower) with a lap time round about 8:30 min. Its just amazing how those guys know just about every little stone on the race track...

But one thing is for sure:

My hands were wet after this ride ;-)

Cheers,
Eric

huups ... yep! - Bus is great!

yep sabine is a fantastic driver but rememebr clarkson ahs been around a while (had a few too many laps round the block) so he prob used to be faster and tat the time he didt have a back problem im going there next september (its july) id love to get a kiss from sabine:D dont think her hubby would like it much but im aiming for a sub 10 mins in a vauxhall cavalier 2 liter sri (8 valve) (140+mph standard)

Ceci n'est pas un blog

vowe.net is a personal website published by Volker Weber a.k.a. vowe. I am an author, consultant and systems architect based in Darmstadt, Germany.

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