Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat

Count Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat (7 June 1866 – 20 November 1903) was a French aristocrat and race car driver. He was the son of Prosper, Marquis of Chasseloup-Laubat, minister of the Navy under Napoleon III, and of his American wife 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 run in 57 seconds to give an average speed of .
He further improved this record to 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 , although it would revert to de Chasseloup-Laubat on 4 March 1899, when he increased it to . Jenatzy finally took the record on 29 April 1899, with the first run to exceed with an average speed of , a record that was to last 3 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-years long illness.