In the line of Cougar and Courage built by Courage Compétition to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans since the 1980s, the C52 stands out. Designed to accept a variety of engines, it enabled Nissan to prepare its sports prototype programme and the entry of the Nissan R391 in 1999, following the entry of the R390 GT1 in 1997 & 1998. The C52 was the first Courage to benefit from the support of a manufacturer beyond the supply of the engine. Proving that the car also had a well-built chassis and meticulous design, our Courage finished 6th in the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours and another chassis with a Peugeot engine finished 4th in the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours behind the untouchable Audi R8s.

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An evolving prototype with a modern design by Paolo Catone

The C41 was an evolutionary car, as evidenced by its complete history from the mid-90s to the 2000 season. Three chassis were assembled, including the C41 #01 now presented by Ascott Collection. This chassis evolved into the C51 #01 in 1998 and finally the C52 #01 in 1999.

Yves Courage's desire to adapt, particularly to different engine types, was there from the start. When Peugeot's endurance programme came to an end after the Peugeot 905 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1993, the company's aerodynamics specialist, Paolo Catone, turned his attention to other matters. At the end of 1993, Yves Courage, a former F3000 racer, approached him with an idea: to build a modern WSC prototype capable of competing (especially) in the United States, with different engines depending on the customer's wishes. Paolo Catone agreed and the C41 was born. It should be noted that an initial project was developed by Marcel Hubert, who was in charge of design at Courage, but it never got beyond the concept stage. The designer retired, which partly led to Courage turning to the services of Paolo Catone.

The design of the C41 was created by the Courage teams, with Paolo Catone as supervisor, using CAD (on Catia Système). This work resulted in the creation of a carbon tube moulded in one piece. Quite an achievement for the time. "What I've always tried to do with the cars I've worked on is build something that's functional, obviously performs well and is easy to use. For a project of this type, it was interesting to evolve from the 905, given that it's a car that must be able to be driven by a small team, remain reliable and not too expensive, with solutions that aren't too sophisticated, while still aiming to be modern and high-performing," says Paolo Catone of his contribution to the C41 project.

The design of the C41 was finalised in July 1994, after the first wind tunnel tests on a model in April, and led to the assembly of the first chassis (01), which set off on 6 October 1994. Henri Pescarolo, Pierre-Henri Raphanel and Eric Van de Poele took turns driving the C41 on the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans. The car was gradually fine-tuned and for a while there were plans to enter it in the 24 Hours of Daytona. In the end, nothing came of it.
But it would have been a nice tribute to the mechanics of the pretty young C41. Under the bonnet was a Chevrolet block derived from a production engine. A 5.0 litre Chevy V8 with a central camshaft and only two valves per cylinder. The engine was fitted with tubular reinforcements on both sides. It was prepared by Katech in Michigan. The transaxle assembly was supplied by Intermotion (a company with former members of the Hewland and Jaguar programmes). The driver's gearbox is old school, with first gear down left and then an H.

Entered in the 1995 Le Mans 14 Hours and driven by F. Lagorce, E. Bernard and Henri Pescarolo

It was at Le Mans, in its own backyard, that the WSC / LMP1 regulation car fine-tuned its preparations. Jean-François Guittard, for Auto Hebdo, had the privilege of testing the car before its debut at the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours. His comments at the time were very flattering. The car reacts more like a single-seater than an old sports prototype, the front axle is very directional and requires concentration at all times. On the straights, all you have to do is look at the rev counter [...] to realise that the revs are rising sharply. The V8 rumbles and propels you powerfully in a processive manner, a bit like being at the controls of an aeroplane'.

Our Courage's first participation in the Le Mans 24 Hours got off to a remarkably good start, securing 4th place after qualifying. Starting from the second row, Henri Pescarolo retired after 26 laps due to engine failure.
A frustrating first edition in the shadow of the C34 which finished 2nd. Bob Wollek, Eric Hélary and Mario Andretti would have been in contention for the win had a late engine cover change not cost the crew too much time.

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In 1998, Courage became NISSAN's armed wing in its bid to conquer the 24 Hours of Le Mans

In 1997, Courage entered three Porsche-powered cars at Le Mans, not including our car: two C36s and a C41 sporting the red, white and blue livery in homage to Michel Vaillant. This C41 finished at the foot of the podium. Another fine performance from Yves Courage's team.

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Courage benefits from Nissan's ambitions

But back to chassis C51 #01 and 1998. Nissan had now come into the picture. Unlike the partnerships that Yves Courage had with manufacturers (first Ford from 1982 to 1984 and then Porsche until 1997), this time Courage and his team had a different objective. Nissan, which has developed a GT1 with the support of Tom Walkinshaw, now wants to work with Yves Courage to develop an LMP programme. For this purpose, the C41 was upgraded to a C51 (still the same chassis).

It was the first time that Yves Courage had received the support of a major manufacturer beyond the supply of engines. It is interesting to note that Courage had already worked with Nissan, entering two chassis for the brand in 1989 and 1990 (the Nissan R88S and R89C respectively). The 1990 car was acquired by the Ascott Collection from the Nissan Museum in Japan.

For 1998, in a new partnership with Nissan, the C51 #01 was fitted with a 3.0-litre Nissan V8 (as opposed to the 3.5-litre engine used in the Nissan GT1 cars officially entered in parallel). With the support of the Japanese manufacturer, Yves Courage and his men benefited from an extensive driving programme. More than 10,000 kilometres of testing (including an endurance simulation at Lurcy-Lévis) were carried out on the two cars entered for the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours. Car no. 13 (chassis 02) was driven by Didier Cottaz, Jean-Philippe Belloc and Marc Goossens, while car no. 14 (chassis 01 - our car) was driven by Fredrik Ekblom, Patrice Gay and Takeshi Tsuchiya (official Nissan Super GT driver).
With a time of 3'43.244 in free practice, Fredrik Ekblom was faster than the Ferrari 333 SP and showed that the C51 was competitive. The best time in the category was set by Pierre-Luigi Martini in a factory BMW V12 LM at 3'38.829, but he was the only driver to go under 3'40. Tom Kristensen (n°1 Le Mans BMW V12) clocked 3'41''599. The Courage gave up just 1.5 seconds on a fast lap to the future Monsieur Le Mans! The GT1s were very fast in those days and the Toyota GT One qualified in 3.4004. The gaps were very tight!
The race ended with a retirement. In 20th place after the first hour of the race, the C51-01 fell back after a collision on the track, but found its rhythm again and was a respectable 18th at the start of the night before a water temperature problem halted its progress at 23:32. Both C51s retired.

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6th overall at the 1999 Le Mans 24 Hours

Courage-Nissan took part in the Race of the Century, a nickname often given to the 1999 edition in reference to the large number of manufacturers involved and the intensity of the battle. After two retirements at the Sarthe, 1999 sounded like revenge, despite some fine pure speed performances! The car now uses a 3.5-litre turbo engine, a new rear suspension and an X-Trac gearbox. This is in fact the engine, gearbox and suspension of the Nissan R390 GT1. A very prestigious and powerful powertrain!
Nissan appreciated the good performance of 1998 (a C41 finished 16th, a C51 was 4th at the halfway point) and made the effort to push its accompaniment even further. In fact, one C52 even runs in the official Nissan Motorsport colours (chassis 06). In terms of design, the C52 received an aerodynamic upgrade and ran on Bridgestone tyres instead of Michelin.

This final edition of the twentieth century was to be a success story for chassis 01. Thanks to good preparation, particularly at Barcelona and Paul Ricard, the team went into the Le Mans 24 Hours with a high level of confidence. Chassis C52 #01 was entrusted to Alex Caffi, Andréa Montermini and Domenico Schiattarella. This 100% Italian trio benefits from a revised and improved C52. With F1 experience and the ambition of a future American adventure, the three drivers were highly motivated.

The first part of the race was marked by brake problems, something the Courage had never experienced before. But with a good pace and a flawless race, the Italian crew gradually climbed up the order, taking advantage of the problems of the leading cars. Starting the race in 10th place at the halfway point, the #13 Courage gradually climbed up the order and was in 6th place at the chequered flag. It was the best Courage performance of the year, with all three cars finishing in the top 10!

The budding partnership between Courage and Nissan was not to have a honeymoon period. With the merger of Nissan and Renault, the competition programme came to a halt. However, Courage had regained its confidence and was already preparing for 2000.
This C52 therefore only took part in three races in its life, and only in the 24 Hours of Le Mans! With a 6th place overall in 1999, this Courage - Nissan will be a serious contender in the ERL and Le Mans classics. It is currently undergoing a full restoration. Its return will undoubtedly be welcomed by Le Mans fans.

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Race results

06/17/1995 - 24 Hours of Le Mans - Retirement after 26 laps (Henri Pescarolo / Franck Lagorce / Éric Bernard)
06/06/1998 - 24 Hours of Le Mans - Retirement after 126 laps, water temperature problem (Fredrik Ekblom / Patrice Gay / Tetsuya Tsuchiya)
12/06/1999 - 24 Hours of Le Mans - 6th place (Alex Caffi / Andréa Montermini / Domenico Schiattarella)

Historic photos: John Brooks