Albert Clement - 1906

At the time this picture was captured its subject, Albert Clement, had less than one year to live. The image is derived from a photograph that was published in the October 4, 1906 Indianapolis News. Albert Clement was killed practicing for the French Grand Prix in May 1907. He finished third in the race the previous year, in the first French Grand Prix. Clement was, as near as I can tell, 28 years old when he perished.
 
Clement raced for Clement-Bayard, the company his wealthy father founded and owned. He was typically a front running driver and among his notable performance was a second in the first Vanderbilt Cup in 1904 and a fourth place finish in the 1906 edition of the event. His father criticized him for foregoing the new detachable, pre-mounted rims for dramatically quicker pit stops in the 1906 French Grand Prix. He was convinced his son could have won the race if he had not elected to use the older wheels that required removing the old tires and then mounting new ones to the same rim which was not detachable from the wooden wheels.
 
The caption that appeared with this image appears below:
 
"Albert Clement and Illesi, in the Clement-Bayard, will rank as warm favorites for the Vanderbilt Cup race next Saturday, owning to the excellent showing made by the pair in the first Vanderbilt race, when they ran second to George Heath by a very narrow margin. Mr. Clement is a son of the great French manufacturer and is a driver this year only because of his ability to obtain a furlough from the French army in which he is now serving his time. His car is long and sinuous and denotes speed in every line. It is nothing like the car of the first year, but has a wonderful record for this eason."