Louis Rigolly (1876 - 1958), a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over . He set a record of on a beach at

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

on 21 July 1904, driving a 13.5 litre

Gobron-Brillié Gobron-Brillié was an early French automobile manufactured from 1898 to 1930.P. Roberts (1973). ''A Picture History of the Automobile'', Ward Lock Ltd, London, UK. The original company, ''Societé des Moteurs Gobron-Brillié'', was founded by t ...

racing car. He covered a 1 kilometre course in 21.6 seconds, beating Belgian

Pierre de Caters Baron Pierre de Caters (25 December 1875, in Berchem – 21 March 1944, in Paris) was a Belgian adventurer, aviator and car and motorboat racer. In 1908, he was the first Belgian to fly an aircraft. He was also the first Belgian to receive a ...

mark of , set the previous May over the same 1 kilometre course in Ostend. The record stood for just three months. Rigolly also participated in early

Grand Prix motor racing Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...

, winning the Light car class of the inaugural Circuit des Ardennes in 1902, driving a Gobron-Brillié.

References

Land speed record people 1876 births 1958 deaths {{France-autoracing-bio-stub

See also

References