1991 Cougar C26S #12
Pilots: F. Migault, L. Robert, J-D. Raulet
Team: Courage Compétition
Race: 11th overall (C2 class) at Le Mans in 1991
Spark - S3535 (resin)
Published 09/20/24
Yves Courage, born in 1948, began his racing career in 1972. He specialized in hill climbing, and by 1980 he had over 80 victories in European events. In 1977 he raced for the first time at Le Mans, and participated nine more times. In 1981 he won in his class, and at his last race, in 1987, he finished third overall. However, that class victory in 1981 was a turning point for him. He then decided to start his own company to build prototype chassis. Courage Compétition opened business in 1982, and their first car was the Courage C01. Powered by a Ford-Cosworth DFL, the C01 was a Group C car, a new class for that year. Courage would subsequently evolve the C01 into the C02 and then the C12, in 1985. With the C12, now called Cougar C12, Courage shifted to Porsche as their engine supplier.
Using a Porsche flat-6, in 1987 their Cougar C20 #13 managed third overall at La Sarthe. And in 1989, with a Cougar C20B, the team managed a first place in the C2 class. As is the norm with all small manufacturers, Courage developed their cars slowly and incrementally. With that, in 1991 they arrived at the Cougar C26S. The C26S had a contemporary conventional design, with an aluminum honeycomb monocoque chassis reinforced by Kevlar. The suspension system consisted of double wishbones up front and lower wishbones and top rockers on the rear. As was their custom, powering the C26S was Porsche’s 935/83 engine. The 935/83 was a twin-turbo 2994 cm³ flat-6, with DOHC and 24 valves. With Bosch Fuel Injection it was capable of 560 kW (750 hp). For the 1991 race, Courage brought four cars, two brand new and two adaptations of older chassis.
With four entrants, Cougar was ready for the 1991 24 Heures du Mans. However, despite the huge effort, their results were lacking. Cougar #48 (built on their old #C02-2 chassis) was underweight and DNQ. Moreover, cars #13 and #47 abandoned respectively on laps 45 and 293. Only C26S #12 completed the race, finishing in 11th overall. Courage’s last model was the LC70 of 2007, when ORECA bought the team and manufacturing facilities. With all that it’s safe to say that Courage earned its spot in Le Mans history. That being so, I consequently need these cars in the W-143 garage. Unfortunately though, Courage is under-represented in my collection. Trying to rectify that, who delivers a great model in 1:43 for a reasonable price? Spark, who else. Therefore, C26S #12 here is exactly that – a great model in scale of one of Le Mans’ legendary brands.