Sister's passion for speed the inspiration for French ace Muller

Who said racing should be left to the men and cheering to the women? Yvan Muller's biggest inspiration came not from his father or a male figure, but from a woman who taught him almost everything from finding racing lines to achieving physical fitness.

Muller owes a fair share of his success as a two-time title-holder of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) to his sister, Cathy, who ignited young Muller's passion for the sport more than 20 years ago.

Cathy was a professional racing driver long before Muller knew his transmission from his suspension, and it was she who inspired the Frenchman to believe he could some day become a successful racer.

'Cathy was my inspiration when I was young, because she was older than me [by seven years] and I was always going to see her race. I have learnt a lot from her and from the races I attended,' Muller, 42, said.

Cathy enjoyed some successes, spending two years in the now-defunct Formula 3000 series in Europe before retiring from the sport to raise a family in 1988. She still advises her prot?g?but Muller has done very well for himself.

As one of only five Frenchmen to have won a FIA-sanctioned event (former F1 champion Alain Prost, ex-rally king Didier Auriol and former world racing champions Yannick Dalmas and Jean-Louis Schlesser are the other Frenchmen to join this elite club), Muller knows his place among the all-time French greats will be more secure if he clinches his third WTCC title inside four years in Macau.