Eliška Junková-Khásová (born Alžběta Pospíšilová; 16 November 1900 – 5 January 1994),[1][2] also known as Elisabeth Junek, was a Czech automobile racer.

[1] Junková was born on 16 November 1900, in Olomouc, Moravia, Austria-Hungary[2] listed in the registrar's office as Betke ("Betty") Pospisilová.

[5][2] Upon her marriage to Vincenc she changed her first name to Eliška ("Beth") and her surname Junková (the feminine of Junek in Czech)[3] Work took her first to Brno, then Prague, then abroad to France and Gibraltar, although bureaucracy prevented her travelling as far as North Africa, London or Ceylon, as had been her original intention.

Initially she served as riding mechanic to her husband, but a hand injury incurred during the war affected his ability to shift gears, and this afforded her the opportunity to take the wheel in his place.

She gained fame across the continent, garnering the nickname Queen of the Steering Wheel, and in the racing press of the day, Eliška became anglicized to Elizabeth.

[citation needed] She competed in the Targa Florio in Sicily for the first time in 1927, driving a 2.3-litre Bugatti Type 35B with her husband as accompanying mechanic-passenger.

[8] With her sights firmly set on winning the 1928 Targa Florio, she acquired a new Type 35B to keep her competitive with the top male racers.

On race day, the cars were flagged off at two-minute intervals, with Junková starting well into the second half of the grid, coincidentally just ahead of Candrilli again.

Junková was a remarkable fourth on elapsed time, barely 30 seconds behind Chiron, showing her skill and the value of her meticulous preparation.

[3][7] Campari crossed the line first of the leaders, but as he had started forty minutes ahead, everyone waited for the rest to arrive to determine the actual winner.

[7] Vincenzo Florio warmly congratulated her at the finish and, begging Divo's pardon, called her the moral victor of the day.

[3] Two months later, back at the Nürburgring, she shared the driving with her husband in the German Grand Prix (that year run as a sports-car race).

In 1929, Junek spent three months travelling 6000km across difficult terrain to drive two Bugatti Type 44 cars to India as part of a promotional campaign.

[10] Eliška eventually found love again and married Czech writer Ladislav Khás[6] shortly after the Second World War.

Like Hellé Nice, her great female counterpart from France, she was largely forgotten by the motor racing world.

[6] In 1970 she was the inspiration for the founding of the Český automobilový klub žen [Czech Women’s Automobile Club][11] which is still active today.

She lived well into her nineties, long enough for the Iron Curtain to fall and for the "Queen of the Steering Wheel" to have her place in automotive racing history be recognized.