Mercedes Otto-Stermitz (born 24 April 1958) is an Austrian racing driver and beauty pageant titleholder who won

Miss Austria Miss Austria is a national Beauty pageant in Austria. History Began in 1929 the Miss Österreich managed by Illustriate Kronen Zeitug Agency. Since then the winner went to International Pageant of Pulchritude or famously called as ''Miss Univer ...

1983 and represented her country 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, the United Kingdom. The winner was Sarah-Jane Hutt from the United Kingdom. She was crowned by Miss World 1982, Maria ...

Life and career

Stermitz worked as a stewardess at

Austrian Airlines Austrian Airlines AG, often shortened to Austrian or AUA, is the flag carrier of Austria and a subsidiary of Lufthansa, the flag carrier of Germany. The airline is headquartered on the grounds of Vienna International Airport in Schwechat where i ...

and then as a model when she was elected

in 1983. She later was a Top 15 semi-finalist at

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

Miss Universe 1983 Miss Universe 1983 was the 32nd Miss Universe pageant, 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 ...

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 racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Marko won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in with Martini. He founded RSM Marko in 1989, and ...

, 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 that was marketed by Ford from 1976 to 2023 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and had been positioned below 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 mod ...

in the 2nd division of the

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...

. Both of them finished seventh in the

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, ho ...

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 The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with produc ...

(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, (currently known as Porsche SIXT Carrera Cup Deutschland; known as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup between 1986–1989) is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany. Champions Circuits * Adria International ...

. In 1990 and 1991, she took part in some races for the World Sports Prototype Championship and

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...

. 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 fr ...

at the 1991 race at the Nürburgring in a Porsche 962 CK6 from the Porsche

Kremer Racing Kremer Racing is a motorsports team based in Cologne, Germany, founded by racing driver Erwin Kremer and his brother Manfred. They have competed internationally with Porsches for nearly all of their existence, and were even one of the factory-back ...

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 ...

. In 1991, she competed in a race in the

British Formula 3000 The British Formula 3000 championship, alternatively known as the British Formula Two Championship, was a competition for Formula 3000 held in the United Kingdom, active from 1989 to 1994 and in 1996. Several attempts to restart the series since ...

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 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 Austrian female racing drivers