Germany's "Speedbee" in CAR group test

Schmitz (known as the Queen of Nurburgring) put 10 performance and two race cars through their paces on the twists and turns of Zwartkops raceway, making it the first time both time a world-renowned driver and a woman racer have undertaken the shoot-out for CAR.

To complete the assessment of the cars' capabilities, they also underwent acceleration and braking testing in searing temperatures at the Pilanesberg airstrip.

Comprehensive and controversial

The result is a comprehensive and potentially controversial 30-page feature in the January issue - on sale now - as well as videos, blogs, exhaust tones and a gallery of photos on the www.carmag.co.za website.

The cars were grouped into sub-categories of traditional rivals to see which would emerge victorious, so Audi's new RS5 took on BMW's iconic M3, and the Aston Martin Vantage N420 squared up against Chevy's Corvette Z06 in the line-up.

A massively ambitious event

The annual shoot-out, described by CAR editor Hanes Oosthuizen as a "massively ambitious event", was a logistical challenge requiring careful negotiation with the Zwartkop and Pilanesberg Airport authorities, the availability and transportation of the cars and flights, and accommodation for a team of more than 20 for the week-long assignment.

"The behind-the-scenes efforts needed to make a success of a shoot this big are enormous, but it's great fun and wonderfully rewarding when it comes together - and a colourful character such as Sabine Schmitz certainly adds her own flavour to the event," commented Oosthuizen. "Our readers will not be disappointed!"