Vanwall Racing Team

The Vanwall Racing Team is an Austrian-German auto racing team based in Greding, Germany. The team currently fields the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 in the FIA World Endurance Championship. It was founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son Colin Kolles as Kolles Racing. Prior to 2023, the team was known as ByKolles Racing before being rebranded into the Vanwall Racing Team.[1]

Austria Germany Vanwall Racing Team
Founded2000
Founder(s)Romulus Kolles
Colin Kolles
Former namesKolles Racing
Kodewa GmbH & Co. KG
ByKolles Racing
BaseGreding, Germany
Team principal(s)Colin Kolles
Romulus Kolles
Current seriesFIA World Endurance Championship
Former seriesGerman Formula Three Championship
Formula 3 Euro Series
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
European Le Mans Series
Current driversBrazil João Paulo de Oliveira
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
France Tristan Vautier
Belgium Esteban Muth (test and reserve driver)
Noted driversFrance Tom Dillmann
Germany Thomas Holzer
Germany Mirco Schultis
Italy Luca Moro
Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi
United States Kevin Weeda
Netherlands Renger van der Zande
United Kingdom James Rossiter
Canada Jacques Villeneuve
WebsiteVanwallRacing.com

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 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.[2]

In 2017 Robert Kubica was set to return to active racing again in the ByKolles car for the WEC season.[3] Eventually in April he withdrew from the team.[4]

Former Caterham F1 boss Manfredi Ravetto joined the ByKolles team in 2018.[5]

On March 25th 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.”[6]

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.[7] The team officially rebranded to become the Vanwall Racing Team[1] 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 will 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.[8]

The Vanwall name was registered as a mark by Kolles' agents PMC, in Germany, before the launch of the car.[9] However, the use of the Vanwall mark 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 mark and history.[10]

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.[11] 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.[12]

Results

German Formula Three Championship results

Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2000 AIL Team Kolles Racing Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda Netherlands Elran Nijenhuis 14 18 18th
Germany Andreas Feichtner 4 4 24th
Sweden Peter Sundberg 10 4 25th
United Kingdom Marc Hynes 2 0 NC
2001 Team Kolles Racing Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda Germany Pierre Kaffer 20 156 4th
Finland Kimmo Liimatainen 20 25 16th
2002 Team Kolles Racing Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda Brazil João Paulo de Oliveira 14 16 12th
Netherlands Charles Zwolsman Jr. 10 8 15th
Netherlands Ross Zwolsman 10 0 21st
Japan Sakon Yamamoto 6 0 22nd
Dallara F399 Italy Stefano Proetto 14 0 30th

Formula 3 Euro Series results

Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2003 Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes Netherlands Charles Zwolsman Jr. 20 7 19th
Dallara F302 United Kingdom Jamie Green 6 6 20th
Belgium Jan Heylen 14 0 28th
2004 Team Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes Germany Adrian Sutil 18 9 17th
Germany Maximilian Götz 2 3 19th
Dallara F302 United Kingdom Tom Kimber-Smith 20 2 20th
2009 Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 Volkswagen Canada Robert Wickens 4 0 22nd
Denmark Johan Jokinen 18 0 24th
United Kingdom Nick Tandy 16 0 28th
Netherlands Carlo van Dam 4 0 31st
Italy Edoardo Mortara 2 0 NC

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

Year Teamname Car Driver Races Points Pos.
2006 Futurecom TME Audi A4 DTM 2004 Belgium Vanina Ickx 10 0 19th
Netherlands Jeroen Bleekemolen 2 0 20th
Netherlands Olivier Tielemans 3 0 21st
Sweden Thed Björk 2 0 22nd
Denmark Nicolas Kiesa 3 0 23rd
2007 Futurecom TME Audi A4 DTM 2005 United Kingdom Adam Carroll 5 0 18th
Germany Markus Winkelhock 5 0 19th
Belgium Vanina Ickx 10 0 21st
2008 Futurecom TME Audi A4 DTM 2006 Netherlands Christijan Albers 11 0 19th
United Kingdom Katherine Legge 11 0 21st
2009 Kolles Futurecom Audi A4 DTM 2007 Czech Republic Tomáš Kostka 10 0 17th
Denmark Christian Bakkerud 9 0 19th
Germany Johannes Seidlitz 8 0 20th

Le Mans Series results

Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2009 Germany Kolles Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel) Netherlands Charles Zwolsman Jr. 5 12 7th
United Kingdom Andrew Meyrick 5
India Narain Karthikeyan 4
Germany Michael Krumm 1
Netherlands Christijan Albers 5 6 10th
Denmark Christian Bakkerud 5
Switzerland Giorgio Mondini 3

FIA World Endurance Championship results

Year Teamname Car Engine Class Tyre Driver Races Points Pos.
2012 Germany Lotus Lola B12/80 Lotus (Judd) 3.6 L V8 LMP2 D Germany Thomas Holzer 8 32 8th
Germany Mirco Schultis 7
Italy Luca Moro 4
Netherlands Renger van der Zande 1
Netherlands Christijan Albers 1
Italy Luca Moro 1 N/A NC
United States Kevin Weeda 6
United Kingdom James Rossiter 6
Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 4
Czech Republic Jan Charouz 1
2013 Czech Republic Lotus Lotus T128 Praga (Judd) LMP2 D United States Kevin Weeda 8 11 8th
Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 6
France Christophe Bouchut 4
United Kingdom James Rossiter 4
Austria Lucas Auer 8
Germany Thomas Holzer 8 37 7th
Austria Dominik Kraihamer 8
Czech Republic Jan Charouz 8
2014 Romania Lotus CLM P1/01 AER P60 Turbo V6 LMP1-L M United Kingdom James Rossiter 2 33 3rd
France Christophe Bouchut 2
Austria Lucas Auer 3
Germany Pierre Kaffer 4
Switzerland Simon Trummer 1
France Nathanaël Berthon 1
2015 Austria Team ByKolles CLM P1/01 AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 LMP1 M Switzerland Simon Trummer 8 104 3rd
Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 2
Austria Christian Klien 2
Portugal Tiago Monteiro 1
Germany Pierre Kaffer 6
2016 Austria ByKolles Racing Team CLM P1/01 AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 LMP1 D Switzerland Simon Trummer 9 109 2nd
United Kingdom Oliver Webb 9
United Kingdom James Rossiter 2
Germany Pierre Kaffer 6
2017 Austria ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6 LMP1 M United Kingdom Oliver Webb 4 N/A NC
Austria Dominik Kraihamer 4
United Kingdom James Rossiter 2
Italy Marco Bonanomi 4
2018-2019 Austria ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6
Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
LMP1 M United Kingdom Oliver Webb 5 22 4th
France Tom Dillmann 4
Austria Dominik Kraihamer 2
Austria René Binder 1
United Kingdom James Rossiter 2
2019-2020 Austria ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 LMP1 M France Tom Dillmann 2 N/A NC
Canada Bruno Spengler 2
United Kingdom Oliver Webb 2
2023 Austria Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 LMH M France Tom Dillmann 4 6* 7th*
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri 4
Canada Jacques Villeneuve 3
France Tristan Vautier 1
Brazil João Paulo de Oliveira

* Season still in progress.

Le Mans 24 Hours Result

Year Drivers Car Qualification Result Laps
2009 India Narain Karthikeyan Audi R10 TDI 14 7th 369
Netherlands Charles Zwolsman Jr.
Germany André Lotterer
Denmark Christian Bakkerud Audi R10 TDI 13 9th 360
Netherlands Christijan Albers
Switzerland Giorgio Mondini
2010 United States Scott Tucker Audi R10 TDI 12 DNF (39) 182
Portugal Manuel Rodrigues
France Christophe Bouchut
Denmark Christian Bakkerud Audi R10 TDI 13 DNF (32) 331
Netherlands Christijan Albers
United Kingdom Oliver Jarvis
2012 Germany Thomas Holzer Lola B12/80 31 DNF 155
Germany Mirco Schultis
Italy Luca Moro
2013 United States Kevin Weeda Lotus T128 24 DNF 17
United Kingdom James Rossiter
France Christophe Bouchut
Germany Thomas Holzer Lotus T128 23 DNF 219
Austria Dominik Kraihamer
Czech Republic Jan Charouz
2015 Switzerland Simon Trummer ByKolles CLM P1/01 11 DSQ 260
Germany Pierre Kaffer
Portugal Tiago Monteiro
2016 Switzerland Simon Trummer ByKolles CLM P1/01 9 DNF 206
Germany Pierre Kaffer
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
2017 Austria Dominik Kraihamer ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 6 DNF 7
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
Italy Marco Bonanomi
2018 United Kingdom Oliver Webb ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 8 DNF 65
France Tom Dillmann
Austria Dominik Kraihamer
2019 France Tom Dillmann ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 8 DNF 163
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
Italy Paolo Ruberti
2020 France Tom Dillmann ByKolles ENSO CLM P1/01 5 DNF 97
United Kingdom Oliver Webb
Canada Bruno Spengler
2023 France Tom Dillmann Vanwall Vandervell 680 15 DNF 165
France Tristan Vautier
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri

Timeline

The series in which the team competed are listed:

Current series
FIA World Endurance Championship 2012–2020, 2023
Le Mans Virtual Series 2021–
Former series
German Formula Three Championship 2000–2002
Formula 3 Euro Series 2003–2004, 2009
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters 2006–2009
Le Mans Series 2009

References

  1. "ByKolles Le Mans Hypercar revealed with Vanwall branding". Motor Authority. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  2. "Lotus team re−named ByKolles Racing | FIA World Endurance Championship". Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-05-19.
  3. "Former F1 racer Robert Kubica gets LMP1 ride for le Mans, WEC". 5 February 2017.
  4. Loewenberg, Gabriel. "Robert Kubica Withdraws From WEC Season". The Drive. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  5. "Ex-Caterham F1 boss Ravetto joins ByKolles squad". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-26.
  6. "ByKolles ready to race Vanwall LMH in WEC in 2023 if "welcome"". www.motorsport.com. 2022-03-25. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  7. Rachit Thukral (2 April 2022). "ByKolles-built Vanwall Le Mans Hypercar rolled out". Motorsport.com.
  8. Daniel Lloyd (11 January 2023). "Record Top-Category Field Headlines 38-Car Season Entry". sportscar365.com. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  9. "Could Vanwall Be Coming To FIA WEC? | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
  10. "ByKolles Lose EUIPO Case Over Vanwall Trademark | dailysportscar.com". www.dailysportscar.com. 3 February 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  11. Lloyd, Daniel (31 May 2023). "Villeneuve "Deeply Disappointed" at Vanwall Dismissal". SportsCar365. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  12. Klein, Jamie (16 June 2023). "Dillmann parts ways with Vanwall after latest Le Mans DNF". motorsport.com. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.