Jeremy Clarkson returning to Top Gear to honor late host Sabine Schmitz

For the first time since 2015, Jeremy Clarkson will be appearing on Top Gear. It's for a bittersweet occasion, though: Clarkson will appear on an upcoming tribute episode to racing driver and occasional Top Gear host Sabine Schmitz, who died of cancer last month.

Clarkson abruptly exited the car-focused TV series in 2015 following a physical altercation with a producer. His co-hosts Richard Hammond and James May quit in response, joining Clarkson on a new series called The Grand Tour for Amazon Prime.

In their absence, Top Gear added new hosts, like Friends star Matt LeBlanc and Schmitz, who had appeared on the show in the past but became a part of the presenting team after the shakeup.

Later this week, BBC One will air its tribute episode to "the Queen of the Nürburgring," a nickname Schmitz earned for her love for the famous German racing circuit.

"Terrible news about Sabine Schmitz," Clarkson wrote after news of Schmitz's death broke in March. "Such a sunny person and so full of beans."

The Schmitz tribute episode will air on BBC One later this week, and is already available on the BBC iPlayer, but a BBC America representative tells EW that the network currently has no plans to broadcast the tribute episode. BBC America will honor Schmitz via a tribute card at the end of its season 30 premiere episode airing on April 25.

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