Meet the country singing, trailblazing motorbike racer

"No-one kind of expects me to ride motorbikes. There's less women in the sport, obviously, and there's a high contrast from singing to motorbike racing. "I love both of them equally and I'm very fortunate I can do both.

When I'm not racing, I'm singing. " Country music and motorcycle racing would usually be worlds apart, but not for Alanna Maher. One week the 31-year-old could be standing on stage, the next she could be standing on the podium in her racing leathers.

For Maher, racing is in her family and the sport makes up some of her earliest memories. She first came to the North West 200 aged nine in 2004 to support her uncle, Roger, who was racing at the event. Maher was milling about the pits, where she said there is "no better place to be than amongst it all".

Her brother, Ryan, has also raced around the Triangle circuit and, this year, she is back in the paddock with BBC Sport NI's coverage of the famous road race. "When my uncle was racing were all part of the crew and in the thick of it, they are some of my best memories of racing," she said. "I've had many years watching the racing from from the side of the road like everyone else, but it's just not quite the same as being in the middle of it.