Camille Jenatzy
Camille Jenatzy (1868, Schaerbeek – 8 December 1913, Habay la Neuve) was a Belgian race car driver. He is known for breaking the land speed record three times and being the first man to break the 100 km/h barrier. He was nicknamed Le Diable Rouge ("The Red Devil") after the colour of his beard .[1]
[edit] Record Setting
On 17 January 1899 at Achères, Yvelines near Paris, France, he reached the speed of 66.66 km/h (41.42 mph) over the kilometer, driving a CGA Dogcart. That same day, the record was broken by Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat, topped on 27 January 1899 when Jenatzy achieved 80.35 km/h (49.93 mph). This record was again broken by Chasseloup-Laubat, who applied rudimentary streamlining to his Jeantaud.[2] Jenatzy replied with his third and final land speed record on 29 April 1899, reaching 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph) in the electric CITA Nº 25 La Jamais Contente, the first record over 100 km/h (60 mph).
In 1902, he lost the land speed record to Leon Serpollet. Jenatzy regained the record in 1903,[3] winning the Gordon Bennet Cup in Athy, Ireland, at the wheel of a Mercedes, the same year.[4]
[edit] Death
Jenatzy died in 1913 in a hunting accident. He went behind a bush and made animal noises as a prank on his friends who were hunting with him. It worked too well, they heard the noise and one of them, Alfred Madoux, director of the journal L'Etoile Belge,[5] fired, believing it was a wild animal. When they realised it was Jenatzy, they rushed him to hospital by car; he bled to death en route, fulfilling his own prophecy he would die in a Mercedes.[6] He is buried at the Laeken Cemetery in Brussels.
[edit] References
- ^ J.R. Holthusen, The Fastest Men on Earth, (Sutton Publishing, 1999), p.6
- ^ "The Electric Era". Thrust SSC. 1997. http://www.thrustssc.com/thrustssc/History/The_Electric_Era.html. Retrieved 2006-10-18.
- ^ Mercedes-Benz History:Â A Look Back At Camille Jenatzy And The 1903 Gordon Bennett Trophy | eMercedesBenz - The Unofficial Mercedes-Benz Weblog at www.emercedesbenz.com
- ^ eMercedesBenz, A Look Back At Camille Jenatzy And The 1903 Gordon Bennett Trophy (3 June 2008)
- ^ JENATZY SHOT DEAD.; Famous Belgian "Red Devil" Auto Racer Killed in Hunting Accident. - The New York Times
- ^ "The day the country stopped to watch the Great Race". Leinster Express. 2003-05. http://hoganstand.com/general/identity/extras/hidden/stories/greatrace.htm. Retrieved 2006-10-18.[dead link]
