The Courage C60 was a

Le Mans Prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

(LMP) racing car built by Courage Compétition in 2000, and used in international sports car races until 2006. A replacement for the

Courage C52 C52 or C-52 may refer to: * C-52 (cipher machine) * , an ''Admirable''-class minesweeper of the Mexican Navy * Caldwell 52, an elliptical galaxy * Company C, 52d Infantry Regiment (Anti-Tank) of the United States Army * Courage C52, a French racing ...

, it was Courage's first all-new prototype since the

Courage C41 The Courage C41 was a sports prototype racing car built by Courage Compétition in 1994, and used in international sports car races from 1995 until 1999. Designed by Paolo Catone, it initially used a 5-litre Chevrolet V8 engine, developed by Comp ...

was built in 1994. It was initially fitted with a 4-litre naturally-aspirated Judd GV4 V10 engine in 2000, and run by SMG Compétition. In 2001, Pescarolo Sport began using a 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged

Sodemo Sodemo Moteurs is a motor vehicle engine tuning company based in Magny-Cours, near Nevers, France, owned by Guillaume Maillard. Formed in 1981, and based within the ground of the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Sodemo is most associated with the tun ...

- Peugeot A32 V6 engined version of the car, and the Peugeot-engined versions would prove to be the most successful. In 2004, Pescarolo redeveloped the C60 on their own, and replaced the Peugeot engines with 5-litre

Judd GV5 Judd is a brand of racing car engines built by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Engine Developments was intended to build engines for Brabham's racing efforts, and ...

V10s. In 2005, Courage ran two updated versions of the C60 (known as the C60 Hybrid, and using the Judd GV4 engines) as a factory effort; Pescarolo also updated their C60s into a similar Hybrid format, and took second at the 2005 and 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans, whilst also winning the Le Mans Series in both years. In 2006, the all-new Courage LC70 was introduced by Courage, and Pescarolo introduced their 01 in 2007.

Design and development

In 2000, Courage Compétition introduced the C60 as a clean-sheet replacement for the

. Like its predecessor, the C60 was designed by Paolo Catone, and was the first all-new car since the

was introduced. The C60 used a carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque chassis, whilst its suspension consisted of double wishbones, pushrods and horizontally-located dynamic dampers. SMG Compétition were the first team to run the car, and their C60 was fitted with a 4-litre naturally-aspirated Judd GV4 V10 engine, In 2001, Pescarolo Sport began using the C60 and their C60s used a

-developed 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged Peugeot A32 V6 engine, capable of a claimed power output of . In 2002,

André de Cortanze André de Cortanze (born 30 March 1941) is a French motorsport engineer. Career De Cortanze graduated in 1967 with an engineering degree and joined Alpine, a car manufacturer, where he drove and designed racing cars. He also experienced success i ...

redeveloped the C60 into the C60 Evo, which notably featured an unusual brake duct system similar to that found on an

open-wheel racing car An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

at the front of the car, whilst the rear wing endplates were redesigned and the Peugeot A32 engine now produced a claimed output of . The endplates were further developed in 2003, whilst the engine's air restrictors were decreased in size from , resulting in the claimed power output decreasing to . In 2004, Pescarolo began running the car as a "Pescarolo C60" with a 5-litre

V10 engine, as

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...

had further developed the C60. For 2005, Courage and Pescarolo both released redeveloped versions of the C60 for the new LMP1 regulations; both were designated as C60 Hybrids and used Judd engines. The Pescarolo version retained its Judd GV5 engine, with a claimed power output of , whilst the Courage version used the smaller Judd GV4 engine, and featured a noticeably different rear wing. Courage introduced the new Catone-designed Courage LC70 in 2006 as the C60's replacement.

Racing history

2000–2001

The C60 made its debut at the

2000 Silverstone 500 USA Challenge The 2000 Silverstone 500 USA Challenge was the third round of the 2000 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom, on May 13, 2000. This event was the first American Le Mans Series race held outside of No ...

, when SMG Compétition's Gary Formato and

Philippe Gache Philippe Gache (born 31 May 1962, Avignon, France) is a French race car driver. He has raced in a number of disciplines, but for the last 20 years (as of 2006) has specialized in off-road racing. In 1992 he competed in the Indianapolis 500, but c ...

used the car to take tenth place, and eighth in the LMP category. For the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, Gache and Formato were to be joined by Didier Cottaz, but suspension failure after 219 laps forced the team to retire. SMG ran Cottaz and Gache at the

1000 km of Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, but an accident after 44 laps lead to the team's retirement. For 2001, Pescarolo Sport replaced their C52s with the C60. Their first race with the C60 came at the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...

, with Jean-Christophe Boullion, Sébastien Bourdais and

Laurent Rédon Laurent Redon (born 5 August 1973) is a former race car driver from Loire, France. Redon began his professional racing career in the French Formula Three Championship, winning it in 1995. He then moved to International Formula 3000 where he finis ...

selected to drive the car; however, engine problems after 167 laps forced them to retire, and they were classified 25th overall, and seventh in class. At the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Catalunya, Boullion and Bourdais completed 57 laps before another engine problem forced them to retire. For the 2 Hours 45 Minutes of Donington Park, Boullion partnered Rédon to fourth place, the fastest of the non-

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

entries. However, oil pump issues struck at the

1000 km of Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Desp ...

, forcing Boullion, Rédon and Bourdais to retire. Three C60s were entered in the

2001 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 16 and 17 June 2001. Background Preview The 2001 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 69th edition of the race and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe road racing ...

; Pescarolo ran Boullion, Bourdais and Rédon in one car, and

Emmanuel Clérico Emmanuel Clérico (born December 30, 1969) is a French racing driver. He started his single-seaters career French Formula Three Championship whose best finish of second in his debut season. He raced in International Formula 3000 from 1994-1995. I ...

, Cottaz and

Boris Derichebourg Boris Derichebourg is a former racing driver and current President of Derichebourg Multiservices, born on March 16, 1978, in Enghien-les-Bains (Val-d'Oise). Career Boris Derichebourg began his career as a car driver and competed in his first k ...

in another, whilst SMG ran Gache alongside

Jérôme Policand Jérôme Policand (born 1 October 1964 in Grenoble) is a French racing driver. He drove in Le Mans Series Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in GT1 class for the Team Luc Alphand Aventures. He is currently the team principal of French Bla ...

and

Anthony Beltoise Anthony Beltoise (born 21 July 1971, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French auto racing driver. He is the son of former Grand Prix motorcycle racer and Formula One driver Jean-Pierre Beltoise and nephew of fellow Formula One driver François Cevert, ...

in their C60. Only the Boullion/Bourdais/Rédon C60 finished (in 13th overall, and 4th in the

LMP900 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were creat ...

category), as the other Pescarolo car crashed out after 42 laps, and SMG's C60 succumbed to engine problems 9 laps later. Pescarolo Sport's next race with the C60 came at the 1000 km Estoril, where Boullion, Rédon and Derichebourg were able to take the car's first ever victory, although they had initially been disqualified for ignoring blue flags; Boullion and Rédon immediately followed this with another victory in their next race, which was the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Magny-Cours. Boullion and Derichebourg finished the season off with second at the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Nürburgring. Courage finished the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

(ALMS) season classified in sixth, whilst they took fifth in the FIA Sportscar Championship, and third in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

(ELMS).

2002–2003

For 2002, Courage Compétition began running a factory team again (using a Judd-engined C60), whilst Pescarolo Sport continued with their Peugeot-engined C60. The 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Catalunya saw Courage's Thed Björk, Derichebourg and Cottaz take fifth overall, whilst Pescarolo's Boullion and Bourdais won the race. At the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Estoril, it was Cottaz and Derichebourg who took second for Courage, whilst Boullion and Franck Lagorce finished fourth for Pescarolo. At the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Brno, Cottaz and Derichebourg took another second for Courage, whilst Pescarolo did not compete. Three C60s were entered for the

2002 24 Hours of Le Mans The 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans was an automobile endurance race held for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars from 15 to 16 June 2002 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, close by Le Mans, France. It was the 70th running of the event, as organized b ...

; Courage selected Cottaz, Derichebourg and Björk to drive their car, whilst Pescarolo ran Boullion, Lagorce and Bourdais in one of their C60-Peugeots, and Stéphane Ortelli,

Ukyo Katayama is a Japanese former racing driver and team manager, most notable for competing for six years in Formula One. He participated in 97 Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1992. He scored a total of five championship points, all of them for the Tyrrel ...

and

Éric Hélary Éric Hélary (born 10 August 1966) is a professional racing driver from Paris. His career has encompassed single seater formulae, endurance sports car racing, and touring cars. He won the French Formula Three Championship in 1990 and is best ...

drove their other car. Although the C60 of Ortelli/Katayama/Hélary succumbed to engine trouble after 144 laps, the other Pescarolo-entered C60 finished tenth overall, and ninth in class whilst the Courage-entered C60 finished 15th overall, and 11th in class. Pescarolo reverted to a single-car entry for the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Magny-Cours, which, with Bourdais and Boullion at the wheel, finished in second; the Courage-entered car, driven by Cottaz and Derichebourg, succumbed to electrical issues before completing a lap. Courage did not run their car again, whilst Pescarolo's Boullion and Lagorce took third at the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Dijon, before Bourdais and Boullion finished the season with a victory at the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Spa. Courage finished the season tied with

Dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

on 97 points in the SR1 Constructor's Championship, but lost the title to Dome as they had won a single race less. Pescarolo started the

2003 FIA Sportscar Championship season The 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship was the third season of FIA Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by the International Racing Series Ltd. It was the seventh an ...

with a victory at the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Estoril, with Boullion partnering

Stéphane Sarrazin Stéphane Jean-Marc Sarrazin (born 2 November 1975) is a French professional racing driver. He has won races across a number of single-seater, sportscar and rallying disciplines and competitions, was French Formula Renault champion in 1994, and ...

in the C60. Like the previous year, three C60s were entered at the 24 Hours of Le Mans; Courage ran

Jonathan Cochet Jonathan Cochet (born 4 January 1977 in Alençon, France) is a French racing driver. He won the Championnat de France Formule Renault in 1997. He was a test driver for Prost Grand Prix in 2001, and he was also a test driver with the Renault ...

, Jean-Marc Gounon and

Stéphan Grégoire Stéphan Grégoire (born May 14, 1969 in Neufchâteau, Vosges) is a French race car driver currently living in Zionsville, Indiana. Gregoire is a veteran of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex Sports Car Series, the Indianapolis 500, and the Indy Ra ...

in their car, whilst Pescarolo ran Boullion, Sarrazin and Lagorce in one car, with Nicolas Minassian, Soheil Ayari and Hélary in the other. The three C60s finished seventh, eighth and ninth respectively, which equated to fifth, sixth and seventh in the LMP900 category. Pescarolo followed this result with a string of retirements at the 500 km of Monza, the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Oschersleben and the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Donington. The

1000 km of Spa The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races f ...

saw a return to form, as Sarrazin and Lagorce took second, before Pescarolo ended the FIA Sportscar Championship season with a victory at the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Nogaro (where Ayari replaced Sarrazin). Despite the mid-season slump, Pescarolo were still able to deliver Courage second in the SR1 Constructor's Championship. The final race of the C60's season came at the non-championship 1000 km of Le Mans, where Sarrazin, Lagorce and Bourdais took second place.

2004–2005

In 2004, Pescarolo Sport were the only team to use the C60, which they ran as the "Pescarolo C60". The team's first race came in the 1000 km of Monza, which formed part of the new Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES); here, Ayari and Emmanuel Collard took fourth overall, and were the fastest of the non-Audi entrants. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Collard partnered Bourdais and Minassian in one C60, whilst Ayari drove with Érik Comas and Benoît Tréluyer in the other. Although the C60 of Collard, Bourdais and Minassian succumbed to engine trouble after 282 laps, the Ayari/Comas/Tréluyer finished fourth overall, and fastest of the non-Audi runners once more. Hélary was selected to partner Ayari at the 1000 km of Nürburgring, and this time the pair brought the C60 home in fifth overall. Pescarolo's last race of the season came at the 1000 km of Spa, where Gounon and Ayari lasted nine laps before being forced to retire due to accident damage. Pescarolo finished the LMES season in fifth place, level on points with

Team Jota Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport ha ...

. In 2005, Courage Compétition began running their updated C60 Hybrid, whilst Pescarolo also updated their C60; the two teams were the fastest and second fastest respectively at the

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

test session. At the LMES season opener, which was the 1000 km of Spa, the Courage-entered car, driven by Cochet, Christian Vann and

Alexander Frei Alexander Frei or Alex Frei (born 15 July 1979) is a Swiss professional football coach and a former player who played as a forward. He is currently the manager of Basel. He began his career at Basel, going on to various other clubs in Switzerla ...

was eliminated in a pit-lane accident, whilst the Pescarolo entry, driven by Bouillon, Collard and Comas finished second. For the 24 Hours of Le Mans, both teams entered two cars; Courage entered Frei, Vann and

Dominik Schwager Dominik Schwager (born 18 August 1976 in Munich) is a German auto racing driver. Career Schwager's racing career began with karting in Germany, participating in the national championship from 1989 to 1992 before moving to the Junior Karting Worl ...

in one car, and Cochet,

Shinji Nakano Shinji Nakano (中野信治, born 1 April 1971) is a Japanese professional racing driver. His father, Tsuneharu, was also a racing driver. He competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship. Racing career Pre Formula One Career Formu ...

and

Bruce Jouanny Bruce Jouanny (born 11 June 1978 in Paris, France) is a French racing driver. He started his career in his homeland of France, before moving on to international series. In 2000, he won his only career title to date – the Formula Palmer Audi Ju ...

in the other, whilst Pescarolo ran Collard, Boullion and Comas in one of their C60s, with Ayari, Hélary and Sébastien Loeb in the other. One car from each team finished; Collard, Boullion and Comas took second for Pescarolo, whilst Schwager, Frei and Vann finished eighth for Courage. Both teams reverted to single-car entries for the 1000 km of Monza, which Collard and Boullion won for Pescarolo; the Gounon/Vann/Frei combination in the Courage finished sixth overall, and fourth in the LMP1 category. For the

1000 km of Silverstone The 4 Hours of Silverstone (formerly the 1000 km of Silverstone and 6 Hours of Silverstone) is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 as ...

, it was Frei, Vann and Cochet, driving for Courage, who were the fastest C60; they took 14th, and 13th in class, whilst Collard and Boullion had problems and finished 34th, and 17th in class. The 1000 km of Nürburgring saw Boullion and Collard take fourth for Pescarolo, whilst Frei and Cochet took eighth for Courage. At the final round of the season, which was the

1000 km of Istanbul The 1000 Kilometres of Istanbul was a sports car race held at Istanbul Park in Istanbul, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, ...

, Collard and Boullion took another victory for Pescarolo, whilst the Courage of Gounon and Frei took 21st overall, and eighth in class. This result meant that Pescarolo had won their first ever team's championship, whilst Courage finished seventh.

2006

For 2006, Pescarolo were the only team to run the C60 in the newly-renamed Le Mans Series (LMS). Collard and Boullion started the season in exactly the same way they had finished the previous one, by winning the 1000 km of Istanbul in the Pescarolo C60 Hybrid. The 1000 km of Spa saw Collard and Boullion win again, despite starting the race from the pitlane after a crash in free practice. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Pescarolo entered two C60s, as usual; one driven by Hélary, Loeb and Franck Montagny, whilst the other was driven by Collard, Minassian and Comas. The Montagny/Hélary/Loeb car took second overall, beating one of the brand-new

Audi R10 TDI The Audi R10 TDI, usually abbreviated to R10, is a diesel-powered racing car from the German car manufacturer Audi. The car dominated Le Mans, winning each year from its 2006 introduction until it was replaced by the R15 in 2009. It was design ...

s, whilst the other car finished fifth overall, and fourth in the LMP1 category. Having returned to the LMS, Collard and Boullion were joined by Hélary for the 1000 km of Nürburgring, and the trio took another win for Pescarolo.

Didier André Didier André (born 3 September 1974) is a race car driver born in Lyon, France. In the late 1990s he competed in Indy Lights, driving in the Indy Racing League in 2001 and Nissan World Series from 2003 until the present day. During 2006 he dr ...

replaced Hélary in the final two rounds, which were the 1000 km of Donington and 1000 km of Jarama, and Pescarolo won both races to complete a clean sweep. As a result, Pescarolo retained the LMP1 team's championship with the maximum score possible. The C60 was made obsolete by the new LMP1 regulations for 2007, and thus was retired, and replaced by the Pescarolo 01.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Courage C60 Le Mans Prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Mid-engined cars Sports prototypes Cars introduced in 2000

C60 C60, C.60, or C-60 may refer to: Vehicles and transport * Caudron C.60, a 1920s French two-seat biplane * Chevrolet C-60, a medium-duty truck * Lockheed C-60 Lodestar a WW2-era transport airplane * JNR Class C60, a Japanese class of steam locomo ...