Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat



Count Charles-François Gaston Louis Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat (7 June 1866 – 20 November 1903    ) was a French aristocrat and race car driver.

Biography
Born in Paris, he was the son of Prosper, Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, minister of the Navy under Napoleon III, and the American Marie-Louise Pilié.

He is known for setting the first recognised automobile land speed record on 18 December 1898, in Achères, Yvelines, using a Jeantaud electric car. The record was set as part of a competition organised by the French automobile magazine La France Automobile. He completed a single flying 1 km run in 57 seconds to give an average speed of 63.13 km/h.

He further improved this record to 66.65 km/h one month later on 17 January 1899, also at Achères, in the first of a series of record setting duels with Camille Jenatzy. Ten days later Jenatzy managed to break this record with a speed of 80.35 km/h, although it would revert to de Chasseloup-Laubat on 4 March 1899, when he increased it to 92.69 km/h. Jenatzy finally took the record on 29 April 1899, with the first run to exceed 100 km/h with an average speed of 105 km/h, a record that was to last three years.

Chasseloup-Laubat managed to win the Marseille-La Turbie long-distance race in 1897 with a steam vehicle built by Trépardoux & Cie, predecessor of De Dion-Bouton. This was the only major city-to-city event won by a steam car.

The Count died in Le Cannet, near Cannes, aged 37, after a two-year long illness.