At 79, Rosemary still has the racing passion

Rosemary Smith has been an icon of competition motoring ever since she won the Tulip Rally in 1965 while driving a works Hillman Imp for the Rootes Group, writes Brian Byrne.

She is a most inspirational person, and a longtime friend of your editor, so I thought you'd like to see this video.

Rosemary won the 1969 Cork 20 Rally and she won the ladies' prize several times on the Scottish Rally and on the Circuit of Ireland Rally, twice each on the Alpine Rally and on the Canadian Shell 4000 and once on the Acropolis Rally.

But she had never raced in a Formula 1 car. That changed recently when, as an ambassador for Renault Ireland, Rosemary took to a circuit in the Renault Sport Formula One™ Team R.S.17.

It's all about following your passion. And Rosemary still carries on her day job of operating her driving school, with a particular emphasis on giving Transition Year students across Ireland the chance to get behind the wheel of her Renault Clio. Nothing like starting them early and starting them right.