New Courage ready to run.

Despite the eponymous C65 establishing itself as one of the most successful Le Mans prototypes in its class in recent years, Yves Courage decided to start working on a new generation car in order to give his customers a better chance to win in the ever more competitive LMP2 category.

The C65 won no fewer than eleven races on both sides of the Atlantic in the past two years, claiming team, driver and manufacturer championships along the way. However, as far back as April of last year, Courage was already thinking about the future.

The result was the LC75, conceived by the 14-man design team led by Paolo Catone and Courage himself. Having developed the basic shape of the car, it underwent an intensive programme in the ACE windtunnel at Magny-Cours to further hone its aerodynamic properties. Chief aero engineer Ben Wood immediately found that the new car produced outstanding results, which motivated the team to develop additional elements that will be used in the coming season. So happy was he with the aero results, Courage was moved to hand the car its LC prefix in memory of his Liliane.

"I have a very special memory of Liliane, and I'm convinced that she would have been very proud of this new Courage," Yves noted, "As a result, I'm very happy and very pleased to present the new LC75.

"The car is the result of 24 years of experience in building sport prototypes, but this project couldn't have existed without the hard work of all people involved and the joint venture we installed at the beginning of it. I want to thank all of them for the efforts they have put in this fabulous journey.

"With the LC75, a new era starts for Courage as a manufacturer and we are convinced that the LC75 will equal - and even improve upon - the results obtained by its predecessor."

Production of the monocoque started in November 2005, with the bodywork elements going into production after the last windtunnel session in December. The design and production team was keen to see the car on track in the first week of 2006 and worked hard throughout the holiday season to achieve that aim. The big day finally arrived on 5 January when, at 1100hrs, the LC75 started its shakedown on a dry but cold Maison Blanche track.

Some 400km trouble-free laps were achieved with the Mecachrome engine, which added to the team's satisfaction.

"The 3.4-litre V8 engine installed in the LC75 took advantage of the experience gained from the four-litre version used in the GP2 Series in 2005," Mecachrome's Christian Contzen explained, "The last tests were very promising and point to very good performances of our LMP2 engine.

"The reliability proven on the dyno, and the increase of power, have to be confirmed in the races, but our intention is to participate at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the LMS if we are in a position to obtain convincing results."