In the 1980s, he moved to Peugeot Talbot Sport as Technical Director, enjoying victories in rallying and Le Mans.

In 2000 he became the initial Technical Director of the Toyota F1 team, working with aerodynamicist Robert Choulet.

[3] The project was financed by French state owned oil company Elf Aquitaine with de Cortanze being the chief designer of the bike.

The car-like front hub was mounted on a single sided parallel leading arm suspension eliminating any tendency for nose diving under braking.

The project was run on a shoestring budget and regarding these circumstances the bikes were astonishingly successful and created the attention Elf Aquitaine had desired.