Now standing tall at 5ft 2ins, Banbridge-born Emma McKinstry has scaled new heights - the World Rally Championship Rally Ireland and is considered one of Northern Ireland's most promising young drivers.

She is one of only two women taking part in the event which starts with a Super Special Stage at Stormont this Thursday.

Emma will be behind the wheel of a £190,000 Subaru Impreza S9.

Speaking from the McKinstry Motorsport hub that is her home she said: " I've been rallying for about five years now. It has always been in the blood.

"Dad has rallied for a lifetime and won a lot of championships. It was just being brought up around cars and being on quads or tractor lawn mowers - anything with wheels that moved really. That was the start of it. It was always there."

Emma is the only girl in her family to have gone into rallying. Her older sister Susan, who just recently passed her driving test, prefers to cheer from the sidelines.

Emma may be following in her father's footsteps but having won a host of titles, including the Northern Ireland Ladies' Championship, she is already making a name for herself on the circuit.

"We've been driving for a few years now. I started off in a wee Peugeot 106 and moved up to a Mitsubishi. And this year we have had the opportunity to have a go in Dad's World Rally cars which are the top of the range, the best cars you can drive basically.

"We've done a couple of rounds and to be honest we've done fairly well for ourselves," she said.

And she said her father is delighted with her achievements.

"He is proud and likes to watch and keep times on us. He gives me tips every day."

Taking on the men of the track is not a problem either. She may be small in stature but Emma McKinstry is no pushover.

Any chauvinist jokes about women drivers are left in the dust when she has beaten them a few times.

"The boys are always good craic. There's always good banter, although they don't like us beating them," she said.

"All the boys are very, very supportive; it's all good fun."

Working in a male-dominated environment may make some boyfriends jealous but Emma's man is able to keep a close eye on her - as he sits right beside her.

Love blossomed between Emma and co-driver Kenny Hull, from Katesbridge and the pair have been a couple for more than a year.

"We're a good team. If Kenny tells me there is a corner coming up I believe him. You need that level of trust between driver and co-driver," she said.

"Kenny has sat with me for about four years now and we've been going out for about a year.

"It's not really an issue for anyone. It's not the sort of thing you talk about on a rally track."

Physical and mental preparations will be stepped up ahead of the big race on Thursday, but keeping in shape is all part of Emma's job.

"We go for walks every night and try and keep ourselves in good basic shape. Because if you are on a 15 or 16-mile stage it does start taking it out of you after a while," she said.

"It's always good to keep in shape and to keep fit. In the rally car you need to be drinking lots of water. If you get dehydrated you lose a bit of everything, you lose your concentration level, get tired in the car and lazy probably."

Rally Ireland is the biggest race of her career to date and Emma can't wait to get started.

"I think it's brilliant. It's a whole lot of nerves and stuff at the minute," she said.

"It's the whole run-up to it and there are just so many things different from a World Rally Championship event to ordinary rallies we would do. It's just huge compared to the rallies we would usually do.

"I'm excited and I'm nervous but I just can't wait to get started to be honest."