A female Toyota works driver (since 1996)

For Isolde, the 1996 switch to Toyota represented a move up to Group A, the highest category in international rallying. The 30-year-old became the first female ever to have been signed as a Toyota works driver.

From now on, Isolde drove an all-wheel driven 300bhp Toyota Celica GT-Four and teamed up with a new co-pilot: Catherine François from France. At the end of the season, she finished fourth in the German Rally Championship.

In 1997, Isolde produced her masterpiece in Monte Carlo: finishing eighth in the historic event's overall rankings, thus clinching her best ever Monte result. "To be able to stand up to the entire World Championship field was something truly extraordinary," she recalls. "Furthermore, I succeeded in winning the Ladies' Cup for the fifth time." In addition to these international successes, Isolde finished fifth in the 'Deutschland Rallye' and third in the 'Hunsrück Rallye'.

Due to her regular co-pilot, Catherine François, being on parental leave, Isolde now teamed up with Anne Chantal Pauwels. However, in five events, the pairing made it to the finish line only twice, with the runner-up position in the Hunsrück Rallye being Isolde's best season result.

In 1999 - with François back in the co-pilot seat - Isolde contested the Monte Carlo Rally for the penultimate time. She clinched her sixth Ladies' Cup win and finished 13 th in the overall rankings. Behind the wheel of a WRC car (Toyota Corolla), she also contested the Spanish, Italian and Corsican World Championship rounds and clinched another second place in the Hunsrück Rallye.

The year 2000 represented Isolde's final full championship season - in the European Championship. In Italy, she finished third, thus clinching another rostrum result, finishing the season fourth. The 2001 Deutschland Rallye, which had now applied for the World Championship status, was the last rally Isolde was to contest, thus far.

"With hindsight, I am proud of what I have achieved over the course of the years," admits Isolde. "Since the 2001 Deutschland Rallye, my son Niklas has taken centre stage in my life. However, you should never say never. Maybe you'll see me back on the track, in the future. At the end of the day, I'm still suffering from the racing bug."

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