History and photos via Williams i’Anson
This magnificent Porsche-engined Courage C30 LM Group C contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times, twice with Formula 1 World Champion Mario Andretti at the wheel. It’s up for sale at William i’Anson.
The car, C30 LM-010, was part of Courage Compétition’s 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans campaign. It tested successfully for the iconic race, with Carlos Moran and Lionel Robert at the helm, before continuing on to the main event with Pierre Yver, Jean-Louis Ricci and Jean-François Yvon. Courage entered three cars in 1993, with this car, wearing number 13, qualifying 13th and working its way up to 11th overall.
C30 LM-010 was back at Circuit de la Sarthe in 1994, now running in LMP1 following the passing of Group C. Courage once again ran three cars and would achieve a prestigious pole position with Alain Ferté pushing their C32 LM to the top spot in qualifying. In the race, however, our car, chassis 10, was the only one to go the distance, with Jean-Louis Ricci, Andy Evans and Philippe Olczyk claiming a strong seventh overall.
The car would get a year off in 1995 before returning to the great race in 1996 in LMP1 spider configuration. Now designated as a C36 and known as C36-010, the car was piloted by Mario Andretti, Jan Lammers and Derek Warwick to 13th overall.
Still going strong after several years of fierce competition, the car had one more run at Le Mans in 1997. This time, Michael Andretti joined his father behind the wheel, with Olivier Grouillard taking the third seat. The team picked up where they finished in 1996, qualifying 13th, but would only make it two-thirds of the distance, leaving the race in its 17th hour.
Courage Compétition would then enter the car in the International Sports Racing Series, in which C36-010 claimed a season-best third at Donington with Didier Cottaz and Jérôme Policand at the pedals.
The car entered a well-earned retirement in 1998, with Courage moving to a new car – the C51. The team would keep chassis 10 in their care for a quarter century, giving it a stint on display at the Manoir de l’Automobile during that time. It only left Courage’s custodianship recently, in 2018, moving to its first private owner, who sent it straight back to Yves Courage and the team and commissioned them to restore it back to its race-ready C30 LM configuration.
For the full details and history, head to Williams i’Anson’s website here.
History and photos via Williams i’Anson
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