Eliška Junková facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Eliška Junková
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Alžběta Pospíšilová
November 16, 1900 |
| Died | January 5, 1994 (aged 93) |
| Spouse(s) | Vincenc "Čeněk" Junek Ladislav Khás |
| Signature | |
 |
|
Eliška Junková-Khásová (born Alžběta Pospíšilová; November 16, 1900 – January 5, 1994) was an amazing Czechoslovak car racer. Many people think she was one of the best female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history. She was also the first woman to win a Grand Prix event!
Contents
Early Life and Dreams
Eliška was born on November 16, 1900, in Olomouc, which was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire back then. She was the sixth of eight children. Her family called her smíšek, which means "little smiler," because she always had a smile on her face.
After World War I, her home became part of the new country, Czechoslovakia. Eliška was very good at languages. This helped her get a job at a bank in Olomouc. She dreamed of traveling the world!
Meeting Her Future Husband
When she was 16, Eliška met a young banker named Vincenc "Čeněk" Junek at the bank. He was older than her, and they soon started dating. When they got married, Eliška changed her first name and took his last name, becoming Eliška Junková.
Her bank job took her to different cities like Brno and Prague. She also traveled abroad to France and Gibraltar. Eliška wanted to see even more of the world, but rules stopped her from going to places like London or North Africa.
She went back to Paris to be with Čeněk. By this time, he had become quite wealthy and loved cars. Eliška wasn't sure about cars at first. She once said, "If he is going to be the love of my life, then I better learn to love these damned engines." But soon, she also fell in love with sports cars, especially Bugattis.
In 1922, they returned to Prague. Eliška secretly took driving lessons to get her license. Čeněk had already started racing cars. He won a famous hill climb race in 1922, the same year they got married.
Becoming a Racing Star
Eliška and Čeněk bought a Mercedes car in 1922. Then they bought a Bugatti Type 30, which had already raced in the French Grand Prix. At first, Eliška was her husband's mechanic during races. But Čeněk had a hand injury from the war, which made it hard for him to shift gears. This gave Eliška a chance to drive instead!
Her first professional race was in 1923, with Čeněk helping her. The next year, she raced by herself. She won her class at the Lochotín-Třemošná hill climb. This made her famous across the country very quickly. In 1925, she won another race at Zbraslav-Jíloviště. To celebrate, the Juneks bought a second Bugatti. They became good friends with Ettore Bugatti, who made the cars.
By 1926, Eliška Junková was confident enough to race all over Europe. She became very famous and was called the Queen of the Steering Wheel.
Racing in the Targa Florio
In 1927, Eliška raced in the tough Targa Florio race in Sicily for the first time. She drove a powerful 2.3-litre Bugatti Type 35B. Her husband was her mechanic and passenger. This race was very long, about 8 hours, and took place on rough mountain roads. It was a true test of skill and strength.
Eliška started the race very well. After the first lap, she was in fourth place, just behind the top drivers. But her great race ended when her car's steering broke. Luckily, she and Čeněk were not hurt. Even though she didn't finish, her driving impressed everyone. After this, she won other races, including a class at the German Grand Prix at the new Nürburgring track.
Eliška was a very smart driver. She was one of the first racers to walk around the entire track before a race. She would look for important spots and figure out the best way to drive through corners.
The 1928 Targa Florio Race
Eliška really wanted to win the 1928 Targa Florio. She got a new Bugatti to help her compete with the best male racers. She spent a whole month before the race practicing on the course. She would stop and mark posts and trees with chalk to remember the best lines. She knew the track better than anyone!
On race day, many top drivers were there. Eliška started strong. After the first lap, she was an amazing fourth place. In the second lap, some of the leading drivers had problems. This put Eliška into the overall lead! She was ahead of many experienced drivers.
Later in the race, another driver, Giuseppe Campari, took the lead. Eliška was still in second place going into the last lap. But then, she got a flat tire. Her husband quickly changed it, but they lost valuable time. The car also started to overheat. She had to drive carefully to finish the race.
Eliška finished in a very good fifth place. She beat 25 other top drivers, including some of the biggest names in racing! The race organizer, Vincenzo Florio, congratulated her warmly. He even called her the "moral victor" of the day, meaning she deserved to win.
Life After Racing
Just two months after her amazing race in Sicily, Eliška faced a terrible tragedy. She was racing with her husband at the Nürburgring in Germany. They had just switched places, and Čeněk was driving. He went off the road, hit a rock, and the car rolled over. Čeněk died from a head injury.
Eliška was heartbroken. She stopped racing cars and sold all her vehicles. She went back to her first love: traveling. Ettore Bugatti even gave her a new car for a trip to Ceylon and hired her to find new business ideas in Asia.
Eliška found love again after World War II and married a Czech writer named Ladislav Khás. However, from 1948 to 1964, the communist government in Czechoslovakia didn't like her fancy lifestyle. They wouldn't let her travel outside the country. For a while, the racing world almost forgot about her.
In 1973, she wrote a book about her life called Má Vzpomínka Je Bugatti ("My memory is Bugatti"). She lived to be 93 years old. She lived long enough to see the end of the Iron Curtain and for her amazing place in racing history to be remembered. In 1989, when she was 89, she was a special guest at a Bugatti meeting in the United States.
Eliška Junková died on January 5, 1994, in Prague, Czech Republic.
Legacy
On November 16, 2020, which would have been her 120th birthday, Google honored her with a special Google Doodle. It showed an image of her in a racecar.
See also
In Spanish: Eliška Junková para niños
