Mercedes Otto-Stermitz (born 24 April 1958) is a former

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...

n racing driver and 1983 Miss Austria.

Life and career

Stermitz worked as a stewardess at

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where it also maintains its hub ...

and then as a model when she was elected Miss Austria in 1983. She later was a Top 15 semi-finalist at

Miss World 1983 Miss World 1983, the 33rd edition of the Miss World pageant, was held on 17 November 1983 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, UK. The winner was Sarah-Jane Hutt from United Kingdom. She was crowned by Miss World 1982, Mariasela Álvarez of Do ...

and a Top 10 semi-finalist at Miss Europe 1984. Stermitz also competed in

Miss Universe 1983 Miss Universe 1983, the 32nd Miss Universe pageant, was held on 11 July 1983 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Lorraine Downes of New Zealand was crowned by Karen Dianne Baldwin of Canada. Eighty contestants competed in ...

but did not place.Dunlop – Internetseite: Der Standard – Internetseite: At the same time, she started motorsport and, supported by

Helmut Marko Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former professional racing driver and current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One teams, and head of Red Bull's driver development program. Biography Marko was born in Graz, Austria. He wa ...

, drove a number of races in Austria in an Alfa Romeo GTV. In 1985 and 1986, she started in the

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

Ladies Cup.DriverDB – Internetseite: In 1987, Stermitz received a works contract with the BMW Schnitzer Team and, together with her teammate Annette Meeuvissen, competed in a

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mode ...

in the 2nd division of the World Touring Car Championship. Both of them finished seventh in the

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

24-hour race and the 500 km race in Calder. In the same year, both started in the 500 km race in Zeltweg, which was part of the

European Touring Car Championship The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...

, and also achieved seventh place there.Racingsportscars – Internetseite: For the 1988 season, she moved to BMW M Team Linder in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) and finished in 37th place in the overall standings. In 1989 and 1990, she drove in the Porsche one-make cups Porsche 944 Turbo Cup and the successor

Porsche Carrera Cup Germany The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see below), is a ...

. In 1990 and 1991, she took part in some races for the World Sports Prototype Championship and World Sportscar Championship. There, she achieved eighth place together with

Otto Rensing Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

at the 1991 race at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 962 CK6 from the Porsche Kremer Racing team. In parallel to touring car racing, she also started, but without much success, in formula racing. In 1987, 1988, 1990 and 1992 she drove with various racing teams in the

German Formula Three Championship The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany, from 1950 to 2002, then as Formel 3 until 2014. In 2003, the series had merged with the French Formula Three Championship to ...

. In 1991, she competed in a race in the British Formula 3000 Championship and in 1992 in the Buenos Aires Grand Prix – World Cup Formula 3000. After a serious traffic accident in 1993, Stermitz had to end her motorsport career. She is married and has a daughter and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stermitz, Mercedes 1958 births Living people Austrian racing drivers Female racing drivers Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Austrian beauty pageant winners Miss Universe 1983 contestants Miss World 1983 delegates 24 Hours of Spa drivers German Formula Three Championship drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers European Touring Car Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Walter Lechner Racing drivers