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ByKolles Racing

ByKolles Racing

Endurance racing team

ByKolles Racing, formerly known as Kodewa, is an Austrian-German auto racing team based in Greding, Germany. The team most recently fielded the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023. It was founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son Colin Kolles as Kolles Racing, but has undergone several rebrands over the years. These include a sponsorship deal with Lotus Cars from 2012 to 2014,[1] a failed takeover of Tyrrell's naming rights,[2] and a subsequent switch to Vanwall that went to court in 2023.[3][4]

Quick Facts Founded, Founder(s) ...

History

The company initially participated in German Formula 3 before moving to the F3 Euro Series from 2003 to 2005. Colin Kolles left the team to become director of the Jordan Grand Prix Formula One team at the start of the 2005 season, a position he held until 2009. With his son away, Romulus moved the team to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series with Audi under the sponsorship title Futurecom TME. The Kolles team shifted their interest to sports car racing by participating in the Le Mans Series and later the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, again with customer Audi prototypes. Kolles returned to Formula One to helm the HRT F1 team in 2010, with Kodewa's workshop in Greding serving as a base of operations for the new team before HRT's new owners chose to release Kolles from the team and move their operations to Spain in 2012.

Kodewa's Lola B12/80-Lotus at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans

Kodewa participated in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship with the backing of Lotus Cars under the title Lotus LMP2. In 2014 they lost their Lotus backing and rebranded as ByKolles Racing with a new LMP1 prototype, the CLM P1/01.[1]

In 2017 Robert Kubica was set to return to active racing again in the ByKolles car for the WEC season.[5] In April 2018 he withdrew from the team before the first race of the 2018-2019 season.[6]

Former Caterham F1 boss Manfredi Ravetto joined the ByKolles team in 2018.[7]

In 2019 Kolles announced his team would not compete in the full 2019-2020 FIA World Endurance championship, but would still compete in the 2019 24 hours of Le Mans. This was announced to allow the team to contest in the then forthcoming Le Mans Hypercar class.[8]

On March 25, 2022, Kolles announced his intention to enter the car in the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship, stating that "If we receive a welcome, we will be ready to race."[9]

Vanwall Racing Team Logo

On 2 April 2022 the team revealed the new Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar following a photoshoot held at a German airport some days earlier with Christophe Bouchut driving the car.[10] The team officially rebranded to become the Vanwall Racing Team[3] with the chassis named after 1950's Vanwall team owner Tony Vandervell.

On 11 January 2023, the entry was accepted by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the team would enter the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship in the Hypercar class with the Vanwall Vandervell 680, built to LMH specifications. The team's lineup would consist of Tom Dillmann, Jacques Villeneuve and Esteban Guerrieri, with the car being sponsored by German travel bag and luggage company Floyd GmbH.[11][12]

The Vanwall name was registered as a marque by Kolles' agents PMC, in Germany, before the launch of the car.[13] However, the use of the Vanwall marque is in question after ByKolles lost a EUIPO case brought by the continuity project Vanwall 1958 based in the UK, who also plan to build cars for competition using the Vanwall marque and history.[4]

After a string of uncompetitive results and retirements, Villeneuve was dropped by the team for the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans and replaced with Tristan Vautier. Villeneuve subsequently withdrew from the remainder of the season, releasing a statement questioning the team's actions and expressing his disappointment at the situation.[14] Dillmann would leave the team following the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, stating that his leave was on "good terms"; he was replaced by João Paulo de Oliveira for future rounds.[15] Ryan Briscoe would end up replacing de Oliveira for the final round of the season.[16] In November 2023 the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship entry list was announced and did not include the team.[17] It was later revealed that Kolles had struck an engine deal with Pipo Moteurs, who had previously powered Glickenhaus, before the entry request was declined.[18]

Results

German Formula Three Championship results

More information Year, Teamname ...
Carlo van Dam's Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 at Hockenheim in 2009.

Formula 3 Euro Series results

More information Year, Teamname ...
Vanina Ickx's Futurecom TME Audi at Brands Hatch in 2006.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

More information Year, Teamname ...

Le Mans Series results

More information Year, Teamname ...
Christophe Bouchut escaping from a burning Lotus CLM P1/01 at Fuji in 2014.

FIA World Endurance Championship results

More information Year, Teamname ...
Kolles' Audi R10 TDI at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2009.
The Lotus T128 at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
ByKolles' ENSO CLM P1/01 at Silverstone in 2017.
Jacques Villeneuve at the wheel of his Vanwall Vandervell 680 at Spa-Francorchamps in 2023.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

More information Year, Entrant ...

Timeline

The series in which the team competed are listed:

More information Current series, Former series ...

Notes

    1. Karthikeyan, who was nominated as the starting driver for the No. 14 Kolles entry, dislocated his shoulder going over the pitwall before the formation lap. He was unable to take part in the race and was therefore not credited with seventh place.[19]
    2. The No. 4 ByKolles CLM-AER was excluded from the race for not having the correct driver weight ballast. Prior to the exclusion, the car was not classified in the race results for failing to complete 70 per cent of the overall winner's distance.[20]

    References

    1. [1]
      "Lotus team re−named ByKolles Racing | FIA World Endurance Championship". Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
    2. [2]
      Lantos, András (6 April 2023). "Tervben volt a Tyrrell márkanév felélesztése a WEC-ben". Eurosport (in Hungarian). Retrieved 31 March 2024.
    3. [3]
      "ByKolles Le Mans Hypercar revealed with Vanwall branding". Motor Authority. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
    4. [4]
      "ByKolles Lose EUIPO Case Over Vanwall Trademark | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
    5. [5]
      "Former F1 racer Robert Kubica gets LMP1 ride for le Mans, WEC". 5 February 2017.
    6. [6]
      Loewenberg, Gabriel. "Robert Kubica Withdraws From WEC Season". The Drive. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
    7. [7]
      "Ex-Caterham F1 boss Ravetto joins ByKolles squad". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26.
    8. [8]
      "ByKolles won't contest full 2019/20 WEC season". www.motorsport.com. 2019-06-13. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
    9. [9]
      "ByKolles ready to race Vanwall LMH in WEC in 2023 if "welcome"". www.motorsport.com. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
    10. [10]
      Rachit Thukral (2 April 2022). "ByKolles-built Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar rolled out". Motorsport.com.
    11. [11]
      Daniel Lloyd (11 January 2023). "Record Top-Category Field Headlines 38-Car Season Entry". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
    12. [12]
      Mercier, Laurent (11 January 2023). "Who is behind Floyd, partner of Vanwall Racing Team?". Endurance-Info. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
    13. [13]
      "Could Vanwall Be Coming To FIA WEC? | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
    14. [14]
      Lloyd, Daniel (31 May 2023). "Villeneuve "Deeply Disappointed" at Vanwall Dismissal". SportsCar365. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
    15. [15]
      Klein, Jamie (16 June 2023). "Dillmann parts ways with Vanwall after latest Le Mans DNF". motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
    16. [16]
      "Briscoe joins Vanwall for Bahrain WEC finale". au.motorsport.com. 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
    17. [17]
      ""Hard decision" for WEC to turn down Vanwall's 2024 entry". www.motorsport.com. 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
    18. [18]
      Lloyd, Daniel (27 November 2023). "Vanwall Struck Engine Deal With Pipo Before Entry Rejection". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
    19. [19]
      "Freak injury forces Karthikeyan out of Le Mans". The Times of India. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
    20. [20]
      Dagys, John (15 June 2015). "Le Mans Post-Race Notebook". Sportscar365. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
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