Louis Rigal

Rigal was the half-brother of Victor Rigal and raced using the Rigal surname. His first involvement in racing came with Peugeot as a race mechanic just before the First World War, and he started sportscar racing after the war in a Panhard-Levassor, before switching to an Ariès.^[2]

During 1924, he joined Peugeot and drove the entire 12 hours of the Gran Premio Turismo Guipuzcoa at San Sebastian in a Peugeot Type 174, finishing 2nd.^[3] In the same model, Rigal finished third in the A.C.F. Touring Car Grand Prix held at Linas-Montlhéry in 1925, and won the 1926 Spa 24 Hours with André Boillot in a 174S.^[4] He also took part in the 1925 Targa Florio for the marque but retired.^[5] With the Coppa Florio having a one-off appearance in France in 1927, at Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, Rigal took part for Peugeot, and finished 3rd in the race (2nd in class).^[6]

In 1929, Rigal bought an Alfa Romeo 6C and made his Grand Prix debut in the first-ever Monaco Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo 6C, being flagged off while running 9th and last of the finishers, 13 laps down, thanks to a late problem which dropped him from 10 minutes off the lead to nearly an hour.^[7][8] His only other Grand Prix came during the 10-hour formula, at the 1931 French Grand Prix; he shared René Ferrand's Peugeot 174S to 9th place.^[9]

Rigal's greatest success in single seaters was winning the voiturette class in his 6C at the 1929 Grand Prix d'Antibes, in finishing 2nd overall.^[10] His strength was as a sports/touring car racer, and he recorded with another podium finish at the Spa 24 Hours in 1931, finishing 3rd with Goffredo Zehender as part of an Alfa 1–2–3; the pair also won the 1930 San Sebastian 12 hours.^[11] However he never had much luck in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, his best result being a 10th in 1937 with "Danniel" in a Darl'mat-bodied Peugeot. His Peugeot 174S, shared with André Boillot, was running second at midnight in the 1926 event but a windscreen strut broke, and the scrutineers insisted that the windscreen be replaced by using a spare on the car, which, unsurprisingly, it lacked. After five hours of argument the car was disqualified.^[12]

Rigal died in 1953, from the after-effects of surgery.^[13]