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The Courage C34 was a sports car prototype, designed, developed and built by French manufacturer Courage in 1995. It famously contested the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans, where it managed to finish 2nd overall in its class. [1] [2] [3]
The Courage C34 was developed in 1995 by Courage Compétition headed by Yves Courage with the intention of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Like the previous models, the Courage C30 and the Courage C32, the C34 was largely based on Porsche technology. The proven 530 hp (400 kW) 6-cylinder turbo engine from the German sports car manufacturer was also used again in the C34. In 1995, the C34, alongside the Kremer K8 Spyder, was the second of four entrants in the large prototype class to have a realistic chance of overall victory.
Éric Hélary, Bob Wollek, and Mario Andretti were committed as drivers. Courage narrowly missed out on overall victory in 1995. The C-34 team started the race from pole position, which was characterized by heavy rain for the first few hours. In this phase, however, the powerful prototype was inferior to the GT racing cars, which transferred their performance better to the road on the wet track. When the racetrack dried out on Sunday morning, the team was able to almost make up the deficit they had suffered in the rain and finished second overall, just one lap behind the McLaren F1 GTR team Lehto / Dalmas / Sekiya.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose winner is determined by minimum time, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is won by the car that covers the greatest distance in 24 hours. The cars on this track can go up to 366 km/h (227 mph), and in prior events reaching 405 km/h (252 mph) before track modifications. Racing teams must balance the demands of speed with the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without mechanical failure.
The RS Spyder is a racing car designed by Porsche in conjunction with Penske to compete in Le Mans Prototype Class 2 (LMP2) racing. The car takes its name from the legendary Porsche 550 Spyder of the 1950s. The car marked Porsche's first return to the top level of sports prototype racing since the firm abandoned its Porsche LMP in 1999.
The 73rd 24 Hours of Le Mans was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race held for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars from 18 to 19 June 2005 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close by Le Mans, France. It was the 73rd running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 5 June. Approximately 230,000 people attended the race.
The 72nd 24 Hours of Le Mans was a non-championship 24 hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars held from 12 to 13 June at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France. It was the 72nd edition of the 24 Hour race, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. A test day was held eight weeks prior to the race on 25 April. Approximately 200,000 people attended the race.
The 71st 24 Hours of Le Mans was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race held for Le Mans Prototype and Grand Touring cars from 14 to 15 June 2003 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France before approximately 220,000 people. It was the 71st edition of the 24 Hour race, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. A test day was held seven weeks prior to the race on 4 May.
The 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 63rd Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 17 and 18 June 1995 in one of the wettest races in the event's history with about 17 hours of steady rain. The race was won by the #59 McLaren F1 GTR driven by JJ Lehto, Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya entered in the GT1 category. This was the first Le Mans win for a driver from Finland and for a driver from Japan. It was also McLaren's first win, at its first attempt. Such was the marque's dominance that its cars filled four of the first five places - Ferrari did it with its two cars in 1949, but other manufacturers like Jaguar, Porsche, Ford or Audi achieved their Le Mans fame only after 2, 3 or more years attempting their first win.
Courage Compétition was a racing team and chassis constructor company now owned by Oreca, based in Le Mans, France near the Circuit de la Sarthe. It was founded by Yves Courage, a French race driver who ran hillclimbs before founding the company. Following the purchase of Courage by Oreca in 2007, Yves Courage has refounded the company as Courage Technology in 2010, attempting to develop electric racing cars.
The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the naturally aspirated BMW S70/2 V12 engine. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes in very wet conditions. The F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.
The Nissan R391 is a prototype racing car built by Nissan and their motorsports counterpart Nismo for competition at the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was a replacement for the R390 GT1, which was no longer legal in its production-based class.
Advanced Engine Research, Ltd. is an auto racing engine manufacturer based in Basildon, Essex, England. Established in 1997, AER has developed winning engines for a number of high-profile international race series in sports car, prototype racing, rallying, touring car, and open wheel racing. They have designed engines derived from road car platforms, but their emphasis is on clean sheet designed engines with a focus on electronics and turbochargers. Their engines have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the United SportsCar Championship (TUSC), GP3, British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), Nissan/Renault World Series, Grand-Am, Paris Dakar and FIA Sportscar Championship. They have worked with a number of manufacturers including Mazda, Ford, Hyundai, MG/Rover, Nissan, and Toyota. In 2012, AER developed and built Formula One turbo test engines to current rules and in July 2012, AER was chosen as engine partner and supplier to the new GP3 racing series.
The Acura ARX-01, later known as the HPD ARX-01 is a series of Le Mans Prototype built for sports car racing, specifically in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the first purpose-built race car by the Acura division of Honda Motor Company, part of their multi-year program to eventually compete in endurance race. The car debuted in 2007 in the American Le mans Series before expanding to customers in Europe. Over the years various specifications of the ARX-01 chassis have been developed, each signified by a letter suffix. In 2010 Acura withdrew their name from the program and Honda Performance Development which developed the car for Acura continued the program into 2011.
Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races.
OAK Racing is an endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 it won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class and the 2013 FIA WEC World Champion drivers and teams on LMP2 class.
The 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans was an 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 16 to 17 June 2012 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close to Le Mans, France before 240,000 spectators. It was the 80th running of the event, as organised by the automotive group, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) since 1923. The race was the third round of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, with 30 of the race's 56 entries contesting the championship. A test day was held two weeks prior to the race on 3 June.
The Toyota 92C-V was a prototype racing car built by Toyota as a Group C car, and later as a LMP car. It raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for three years. It also took part in the final year of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship during the 1992 season.
Champion Racing was a sports car racing team based in Pompano Beach, Florida, USA. Founded in 1994 by Dave Maraj, a former rally driver from Trinidad, as the motorsport wing of the Champion Motors car dealership, the team has campaigned various Porsches and Audis in North American road racing series. Champion Racing's extensive record includes a win at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005, and 5 straight American Le Mans Series LMP1 championships, 2 as a private team and 3 as a factory team under the name Audi Sport North America.
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 Comptech, and later used the 3-litre twin-turbocharged flat-six engine from a Porsche 935, as well as an Oldsmobile V8. In 1998, two of the C41s were developed into the Courage C51, which used a 3-litre twin-turbocharged Nissan VRH35Z V8 engine, and was used in that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 1999, the C41s were mostly converted to the C52 specification ; this initially used a 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged Nissan VRH35L V8, which was then replaced by a 3.2-litre twin-turbocharged Peugeot A32 V6 engine for 2000. In 2000, the C41 line was replaced by the new C60.
The Courage C30, also known as the Courage C30LM, was a Group C2 sports prototype, designed, developed and built by French manufacturer Courage in 1993. It famously contested in the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans, with drivers Derek Bell and Pierre Yver finishing in 10th and 11th place, respectively.
The Courage C36 was a Le Mans Prototype, designed, developed, and built by Courage Compétition team, to compete in sports car racing from 1996 to 1998. It is powered by a 3.0 L (180 cu in) 700 hp (520 kW) Porsche flat-six engine. It's best result was a 3rd-place finish at the 1997 FIA Sportscar Championship race at Zolder.
The Cougar C20 was a Group C sports car prototype used in sports car racing from 1987 to 1990.