The beginning (prior to 1986)

During her childhood – much of which she spent in her native Bad Bayersoien – Isolde Holderied was somewhat different. Other than her friends, she wasn't interested in dolls but preferred to play football or ice hockey with the boys. At the age of 15, she enjoyed her first motoring experience – on a small moped. Once again, she competed with her male class mates and was keen on being the fastest.

"No matter what kind of sport I was pursuing, I always wanted to win," reveals Isolde. "And I retained this absolute will to win until today." A kind of willpower she also displayed when arduously saving the money for her driving license and her first car.

On her 18 th birthday, Isolde finally had the chance of using her hometown's streets on four wheels. But this wasn't enough for her. On her very first day as a car driver, she was looking for a challenge and drove across breathtaking Italian and Austrian mountaintops. "My mother accompanied me as my co-pilot," recalls Isolde, "And sometime she asked me to stop because she was hungry. But no way! We drove and drove - until midnight. For me, a dream had come true."

Henceforth, the days when Isolde didn't drive her car were extremely rare. At that time, she trained as a solicitor's clerk and covered some 100 kilometres a day on her way to the office in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and back home again.

Back in 1986, one of her father's employees, Karl Bußjäger, who used his leisure time for part-time rallying, provided Isolde with the crucial impulse for her motor racing career. He lacked a co-pilot for the 'Fürstenzell-Rallye' and asked Isolde if she was interested in accepting the job. The answer was an enthusiastic "Yes". "I have to admit that it was only a minor event," says Isolde, "But it was enough for me to irrevocably contract the rally fever."

The 'Spitzbub-Rallye', in November 1986, represented the start of her own rallying career. In Bußjäger's car - lent to her for the event - she made her first effort as rally driver and set competitive times right from the start. Her taskmaster was convinced of the Bavarian's skills and advised her to contest a driver search course organised by the motor racing magazine 'Rallye Racing' and the Sunday tabloid 'Bild am Sonntag'. A course that would turn out to be the start of an impressive career.

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