Top Gear fans praise Sabine Schmitz tribute show

German racing driver and former host of the programme died in March after a four-year battle with cancer

Alex Pattle
Wednesday 07 April 2021 16:37 EDT
Comments
Sabine Schmitz died last month at the age of 51
Sabine Schmitz died last month at the age of 51 (PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Viewers have praised Top Gear’s tribute episode honouring Sabine Schmitz, the show’s former presenter who died last month after a four-year battle with cancer.

The German racing driver, who had appeared on Top Gear regularly since its overhaul in 2015, died at the age of 51 on 16 March, with the BBC this week airing a special episode that paid tribute to the “Queen of the Nurburgring” racetrack.

The BBC uploaded the episode to iPlayer last Sunday before it went live on BBC One on Wednesday evening.

Fans of the show took to social media to express their enjoyment of the episode, which featured past presenters of the programme, including Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

Following the news of Schmitz’s death last month, Clarkson paid tribute to a “sunny person” who was always “full of beans”.

“Terrible news about Sabine Schmitz. Such a sunny person and so full of beans,” he said.

Current Top Gear presenter Paddy McGuinness added: “She gave me pointers on how to drive a Ferrari very fast and hunted me down in a banger race.

“Brilliantly bonkers and an amazing human being! RIP the great Sabine Schmitz.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in