Eliska Junkova

Country: Moravia (Czechoslovakia)

Birth/Death: 16 November 1900-5 january 1994

Claim to Fame:: The first woman ever to win a grand prix race.

Facts:

• 1922: In Prague, she took driving lessons in secret to obtain her drivers license
• 1923: Her first professional race, with her husband as her co-driver
• 1925: She won first place at Zbraslav-Jiloviste
• 1926: She came in second in the Klausenpass hill climb in Switzerland
• She won two-liter sports car class at Nürburgring, Germany, making her the first woman ever to win a grand prix race
• 1928: She raced Targa Florio and had the lead until she had trouble in the last lap and finished 5th, still ahead of 25 others

Eliska Junkova fell in love with cars when she fell in love with her husband, Vincenc “Cenek” Junek. Cars were his passion and soon she began driving with him and even served as his mechanic. Cenek injured his hand and was unable to shift gears and thus began Eliska’s driving career. She became known throughout Europe as “Queen of the Steering Wheel.”

She was quite successful at racing and was also the first person to walk around a course noting landmarks and the best line. In 1928, she was racing at Nurburgring, sharing the wheel with her husband. They had just traded places when he crashed and was killed. She never raced again and sold all her cars including several Bugattis they had collected. The couple had become friends with Ettore Bugatti and he gave her a new car to travel to Ceylon to explore new business opportunities.

In 1989, at the age of 91, she traveled to the United States, against the advice of her doctor, to attend a Bugatti reunion where she was the guest of honor.