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Watch new Top Gear host Sabine Schmitz tear up the Nurburgring

The ‘women drivers’ argument may still be alive, but Top Gear’s new host proves the fairer sex can make most men look positively rubbish behind the wheel.

A YouTube video shows Sabine ‘Queen of the Nurburgring’ Schmitz lapping the legendary German circuit in a Frikadelli Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 R, overtaking other cars so easily you think they were stationary.

Ferraris, Aston Martins, a BMW with a dining table for a spoiler; it matters little to Schmitz as she hammers around the Nurburgring at utterly terrifying speeds – the sort only those who have spent their life driving around the track could achieve, which she has.

In fact, 39 cars are overtaken in less than seven minutes (40 if you include a re-overtake). In the wet. On a course that was boycotted by Formula One drivers for being too dangerous. Ballsy is an understatement, then.

The Nurburgring was actually branded unsafe and replaced by Hockenheim in the F1 race calendar after Niki Lauda crashed and sustained serious burns during the 1976 German Grand Prix.

Top Gear fans will, of course, know Schmitz used to drive the ‘Ring Taxi’ and managed to take a Ford Transit around the “green hell” in just over 10 minutes, beating Clarkson by a considerable time. Who had been driving a Jaguar S-Type diesel.

Sadly, it seems, that ruining the egos of many male racers and the fact she is the first female Top Gear presenters in 15 years is not enough to make her immune to sexist jibes. The top comment on the video reads, “the question is: can she park?”. Probably better than you, matey.

If anything, we have started wondering if Schmitz is The Stig. After all, the BBC is cutting back on costs, plus we would never actually know…

The BBC recently announced the full Top Gear presenter line-up. Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc will be joined by Chris Harris, Eddie Jordan and Recombu Cars editor-in-chief Rory Reid ─ here’s everything you need to know about Mr Reid.

Schmitz said of her appointment as a presenter: “I grew up next to the Nürburgring and have been racing for most of my life, so the chance to combine both driving and filming was too good an opportunity to pass up.”

Video: Sabine Schmitz in a Porsche 911 GT3 R on the Nurburgring

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