Alfred Velghe

Alfred Velghe was a pioneer of French motor racing in the early part of the 20th century. He raced under either the name Alfred Levegh or just simply Levegh, which was an anagram of his real name.

After initially racing bicycles, Velghe turned to cars in 1898 and drove a Mors. He soon gained a reputation for being a great town-to-town racer and often got the better of such established drivers as Fournier, Jenatzy, Girardot, and Marcel Renault. Levegh won the 300km Bordeaux-Biarritz race in 1899 and also gained a reputation for being an excellent hill-climber.

In 1900, Levegh won the Paris-Bayonne road race. When he won the Paris-Toulouse-Paris race that year, at an average speed in excess of 40 mph (65 kmh), it carried Olympic status and with it a gold medal for Levegh in what was a rare appearance of a motor vehicle event at the Olympic Games.

In the winter of 1904, Levegh caught a cold and on 29 February that year died from chest problems. Nearly 18 months after he died, his sister gave birth to a son who was called Pierre Bouillin. He also went on to become a motor car racer under the name Pierre Levagh. Sadly, he lost his life in the worst ever motor racing disaster at Le Mans in 1955 when his Mercedes flew into the crowd killing him and 82 other people.