The Courage C30, also known as the Courage C30LM, was a

Group C2 Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

sports prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to simply as a prototype, is a type of Auto racing, race car that is used in high-level categories of sports car racing. They are purpose-built auto-sports race cars, as opposed to production-car based or s ...

, designed, developed and built by French manufacturer

Courage Courage (also called bravery, valour ( British and Commonwealth English), or valor (American English)) is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Valor is courage or bravery, especially in ...

in 1993. It famously contested in the

1993 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 61st Grand Prix of Endurance, taking place at the Circuit de la Sarthe on the 19 and 20 June 1993. The race was won by Peugeot Sport, Peugeot Talbot Sport, with drivers Geoff Brabham, and Le Mans rookies Éri ...

, with drivers Derek Bell and Pierre Yver finishing in 10th and 11th place, respectively.

Development history and technology

The C30 was the first Courage

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

car to bear the

Yves Courage Yves may refer to: * Yves, Charente-Maritime, a commune of the Charente-Maritime department in France * ''Yves'' (single album), a single album by Loona * ''Yves'' (film), a 2019 French film People * Yves (given name), including a list of pe ...

name. Until 1993, his sports cars ran under the type designation Cougar. In the absence of a championship, the C30s were primarily built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As with the Cougar racing cars, Courage also relied on Porsche technology for the C30. The car competed in the small Le Mans prototype class, the C2 class. The 3-liter Porsche 935 turbo engine was used in the closed racing car. The gearbox was also supplied by Porsche. The chassis was taken from the

Porsche 962 The Porsche 962 is a sports prototype racing car designed and built by Porsche. Created to replace the Porsche 956, 962 was introduced at the end of 1984 and replaced the 956 in the International Motor Sports Association, IMSA's IMSA GT Champio ...

but modified and aerodynamically modified by Courage. Unlike most Le Mans starters, who used Michelin or Dunlop tires, Courage relied on Goodyear racing tires.

Racing history

Yves Courage signed the five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell and the Frenchman

Pascal Fabre Pascal Fabre (; born 9 January 1960) is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 14 Formula One Grands Prix with the uncompetitive AGS team, debuting on 12 April 1987. He scored no championship points and was replaced before the e ...

as his regular drivers. In the race, the C30 had no chance of winning the class they had hoped for. This went to the Toyota 93C team with Roland Ratzenberger, Mauro Martini, and Naoki Nagasaka at the wheel, who finished fifth overall. Overall victory went to the Peugeot 905 driven by Éric Hélary , Christophe Bouchut and Geoff Brabham . The two C30s finished tenth and eleventh in the overall standings and finished fifth and sixth in the C2 class.

Courage C32 (C32LM)

The car was upgraded to the Courage C32 (also called Courage C32LM) designation in 1994. The car took part in the 1994 Le Mans 24 hour race. As with the previous cars of the French manufacturer, the Courage C32 was also equipped with many mechanical components derived from Porsche. The engine was the 3-liter turbo boxer from the Porsche 935 and the transmission was also provided by Porsche. The car wore Michelin racing tires. The Courage at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1994 fielded three C32s: one finished seventh overall, while the other two retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courage C41 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Mid-engined cars Sports prototypes Cars introduced in 1993 C30 Cars powered by boxer engines Group C