Last winter, the provisional 24 Hours of Le Mans and ELMS entry lists revealed the return of Yves Courage, a name that many had thought would only remain in sportscar history books. Nine years after selling his team to Oreca, the Frenchman seemed to be back with a BR01 Nissan in LMP2. Unfortunately, the BR01 was 4th reserve car for Le Mans, which prevented the French team from having a decent chance of participating in the big race and acquiring sufficient funding for the forthcoming ELMS season. Instead, they remained in the French GT Tour and started working on another return project for Le Mans 2018.

DSC’s Mat Fernandez recently talked to Courage and assessed his short, medium and long-term ambitions.

Let’s start with the Frencg GT debacle. The GT Tour was cancelled after just one race. Stephane Ratel seems to have a replacement solution for 2017 with a grid relying essentially on GT4s. What are your thoughts on this?

“The management team of the GT Tour did not listen to us enough or listened to us too late. This led to the collapse of the series. It’s a shame really, as this competition had a justified place in France.

Ratel is a reassuring man. I trust him to bring in constructors who in turn will bring in viewers. Once they show up, sponsors will follow.

“This new series based on GT4 could represent an attractive option for gentleman drivers. His idea ticks all the right boxes. I believe it can work.”

Your name was on the 2016 ELMS full-season entry list, but we have not seen your team in the paddock. Will Courage be racing in this championship this year?

“You know how things are. Sponsors are focused on Le Mans. If you can’t make it to the big one, than it is quite hard to maintain a programme together. That’s what happened to us over the winter. Now we are supporting a few drivers [such as Blancpain contender Benjamin Lariche] in getting the right level of exposure and experience in endurance racing.

The management team of the GT Tour did not listen to us enough or listened to us too late. This led to the collapse of the series.

“If we can get relevant funding for it, we could have a one-off towards the end of the season… like at Estoril.

What car would you enter? The BR01, as announced over the winter?

“I have known Paolo Catone [the designer of the BR01 as well as Chief Designer of Courage’s cars in the 1990s] for awhile now. Although we both have complex personalities, we appreciate and trust each other a lot.

“The BR01 is one of the options we are considering. I’m also in discussions with our next-door neighbour [Oak Racing].”

You indicated a few months ago that your team aimed at compete in the LMP1 category at the 2018 24 Hours of Le Mans with, to quote your own words, an “unprecedented yet realistic power unit”. How is that idea progressing? Can you tell us more about it?

“I can’t really share more about this project for now. The only thing I can tell you is that we continue to be in discussions with various constructors. They have shown interest. I have been involved in alternative technologies for a while now [in the early 2000s, Courage worked on the development of a full electric prototype, the ancester of the Nissan ZEOD: the M011, which was meant to race in the 2011 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans], and what I’m aiming for is some kind of antithesis of what one sees in LMP1 right now… a hybrid car produced at an affordable price.”

You’re aiming high. Why not race in LMP2 instead?

“I’m disappointed by the LMP2 category. It has become a monotype series. Where is the challenge? On top of it, it’s expensive. So I don’t really get it. There is, in my view, nothing better than trying out your own aero solution in a wind tunnel and seeing how that translates on track.”

You have built numerous Le Mans prototype cars in your career. What is the one you are most proud of?

“Obviously, the first ever car we built, the Cougar C01, has a special place in my heart. Beyond that, I guess it’s the C34 or C36. These cars were the result of a tremendous team effort and our best shot at the overall victory. In 1995, we had two cars: a C34 Porsche and a brand new car, the C41 Chevrolet.

I’m disappointed by the LMP2 category. It has become a monotype series. Where is the challenge?

“I should have enlisted another C34 instead of the latter. We would have won [In 1995, the Courage of Helary/Andretti/Wollek finished second behind the McLaren of Dalmas/Sekiya/Lehto]”

We talked earlier on about how your team supports young emerging talents. Who impressed you the most as a driver during your career?

“Many would think that I would reply Mario Andretti. Of course, it was impressive to have such a talented driver amongst us. But in the end, the driver who impressed me the most was Bob Wollek.

“It’s strange, but our relationship started in an odd way. In 1985, Bob nearly took me off track with his Lancia at Blanchimont [in Spa]. At the time, I thought, What a jerk! A few years later, he was trying to contact me, and I didn’t want to talk to him, thinking about the Blanchimont episode. But I gave in and took his call. He said, “Let’s work together. You won’t regret it.” Indeed, I never regretted it.

I don’t think that my passion for racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans shall ever leave me.

“He was the one who helped us considerably when it came to gaining Porsche’s support in 1995. I used to talk to him very often. A man of trust, a hard worker and fast, even towards the end of his life [Wollek died at the age of 58-years-old as he was cycling to the track of Sebring]

In 2007, you distanced yourself from the endurance world by selling your team “Courage Competition” to Oreca. Fans thought it was all over. But since last year, you’re back on the endurance scene. That fire in you is still burning, isn’t it?

“You know, when we returned with a GT car in the [French] GT Tour, we thought about stepping up to a prototype class soon or later.

“As long as I shall live, I don’t think that my passion for racing and the 24 Hours of Le Mans shall ever leave me.”