Louis Rigolly

Louis Rigolly (1876–1958), a Frenchman, was the first man to drive a car at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

[1] He set a record of 103.561 mph (166.665 km/h) on a beach at Ostend in Belgium on 21 July 1904, driving a 13.5 litre Gobron-Brillié[2] racing car.

He covered a 1 kilometre course in 21.6 seconds, beating Belgian Pierre de Caters mark of 97.25 mph (156.51 km/h), set the previous May over the same 1 kilometre course in Ostend.

Rigolly also participated in early Grand Prix motor racing, winning the Light car class of the inaugural Circuit des Ardennes in 1902, driving a Gobron-Brillié.

[3] This biographical article related to French auto racing is a stub.

Louis Rigolly in his car which first exceeded 100 mph in 1904