Assetto Corsa: 1925 Bugatti T35 at 1932 Targa Florio 0.11

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6 ай бұрын

The 1927 Targa Florio saw one of the most unique and inspiring characters the race would ever see, with the arrival of Eliška Junková. Junková had become famous in her home country of Czechoslovakia, spending the previous 2 years winning hillclimbs against all competition in her Bugatti. She had gained so much attention, in fact, that Ettore Bugatti himself offered her a brand new T35b in exchange for being a brand ambassador for Bugatti in eastern europe. 1927 would be her first foray into international Grand Prix racing, and her name was anglicized to Elisabeth Junek by the motor racing press.
Criticized by other drivers, it was believed that Junek's small stature would not withstand the 1,300 corners 5 times around the Medio circuit. She won the crowd over and silenced the other drivers 1 lap into the event by posting the 4th fastest time, around a 108 kilometer circuit that she had never seen before. The thrill ended early, however, as the steering rack in her Bugatti failed midway through the second lap, sending Eliška and mechanic/husband Vincenc into a ditch. The couple were unharmed, and the experience lit a fire in Eliška.
Two weeks later, another hillclimb victory. Two months later, and it was a 2 liter class victory at the newly finished Nürburgring, finishing 4th overall behind the three Mercedes of Otto Merz, Christian Werner, and Willy Walb. This made "Elisabeth Junek" the first woman to win an internationally sanctioned Grand Prix. It was later reported that Eliška suffered injured ribs during the post race celebration when Merz gave her an over exuberant hug. To close out the year, she won the ladies 50 km race at Montlhéry.
Arriving in Sicily in early 1928, months ahead of the race, Eliška and Vincenc started their preparations by walking the circuit and taking notes. This caught the attention of Count Vincenzo Florio, who couldn't possibly pass up an opportunity for good press. Florio sent one of his press officers to ride passenger with Eliška as she practiced in her Bugatti, to both learn and write about the diminutive racing star from Czechoslovakia, and also offer advice about the track. Occasionally, Eliška would stop to mark trees, rocks, walls, or telegraph poles to warn herself of the most dangerous corners.
In his book, fellow Bugatti driver René Dreyfus would write:
"Her tenacity and determination were remarkable - she must have put up thirty or forty laps in that car. She knew the course better than anybody. She really pounded her Bugatti; it was a very used car by race day, but she had thought ahead. The Bugatti team arrived with the new car she had ordered, a T35b painted black and yellow. In the early laps of the race she started to scare the wits out of the other drivers - being beaten by a woman was unthinkable then - and she was up with the leaders until the final lap."
Louis Chiron set the pace after lap one, followed by Giuseppe Campari and Albert Divo. "Miss Bugatti", as the Sicilians had begun to call her, was running 4th.
On the second lap, Chiron pushed too hard and slid off the course. Divo entered the pits, putting Junková into the overall lead, having passed many of the twenty cars that had started ahead of her. Campari pushed very hard to take the lead by the end of the third lap, only to lose time with a puncture. Going into the final lap, Junková was still in second and had closed to within a minute, with Divo ten seconds back on elapsed time.
Campari crossed the line first, but as he had started forty minutes ahead, everyone would have to wait for the rest to arrive to determine the actual winner. Next to appear was Conte Caberto Conelli in his works Bugatti T37, finishing faster than Campari. Divo came through faster still and all eyes were then looking for "Miss Bugatti". It was not to be.
During the last half of the final lap, Junková suffered a tire puncture, losing vital minutes while her husband, as mechanic, changed the tyre. This stop also overheated the engine, forcing the pair to stop multiple times to add water to the now steaming radiator. "Elisabeth Junek" would limp home a commendable 5th, 9 minutes behind Divo. Vincenzo Florio warmly congratulated her at the finish line, calling her the moral victor of the day.
Two months later, Eliška and Vincenc were again competing at the Nürburgring when disaster struck. After handing the car over to her husband on lap 5, Vincenc went wide at the Breitscheid corner, hitting a rock and rolling. Although he walked away from the car, he collapsed and died soon after from a head injury. Junková was devastated - she gave up racing immediately and sold all of their vehicles.
For a few years Junková continued as a brand ambassador for Bugatti, even performing a cross continent trip in a Bugatti T44 in 1929, but admittedly didn't enjoy the experience and returned home to Czechoslovakia.
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