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]

Austria Germany ByKolles Racing
Founded2000
Founder(s)Romulus Kolles
Colin Kolles
Former namesKolles Racing
Kodewa GmbH & Co. KG
Vanwall Racing Team
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
Noted driversFrance Tom Dillmann
Argentina Esteban Guerrieri
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
WebsiteByKolles.com

History

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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 1950s 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

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German Formula Three Championship results

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Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2000 AIL Team Kolles Racing Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda   Elran Nijenhuis 14 18 18th
  Andreas Feichtner 4 4 24th
  Peter Sundberg 10 4 25th
  Marc Hynes 2 0 NC
2001 Team Kolles Racing Dallara F300 Mugen-Honda   Pierre Kaffer 20 156 4th
  Kimmo Liimatainen 20 25 16th
2002 Team Kolles Racing Dallara F302 Mugen-Honda   João Paulo de Oliveira 14 16 12th
  Charles Zwolsman Jr. 10 8 15th
  Ross Zwolsman 10 0 21st
  Sakon Yamamoto 6 0 22nd
Dallara F399   Stefano Proetto 14 0 30th
 
Carlo van Dam's Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 at Hockenheim in 2009.

Formula 3 Euro Series results

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Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2003 Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes   Charles Zwolsman Jr. 20 7 19th
Dallara F302   Jamie Green 6 6 20th
  Jan Heylen 14 0 28th
2004 Team Kolles Dallara F303 Mercedes   Adrian Sutil 18 9 17th
  Maximilian Götz 2 3 19th
Dallara F302   Tom Kimber-Smith 20 2 20th
2009 Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 Volkswagen   Robert Wickens 4 0 22nd
  Johan Jokinen 18 0 24th
  Nick Tandy 16 0 28th
  Carlo van Dam 4 0 31st
  Edoardo Mortara 2 0 NC
 
Vanina Ickx's Futurecom TME Audi at Brands Hatch in 2006.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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

Le Mans Series results

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Year Teamname Car Engine Driver Races Points Pos.
2009   Kolles Audi R10 TDI Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)   Charles Zwolsman Jr. 5 12 7th
  Andrew Meyrick 5
  Narain Karthikeyan 4
  Michael Krumm 1
  Christijan Albers 5 6 10th
  Christian Bakkerud 5
  Giorgio Mondini 3
 
Christophe Bouchut escaping from a burning Lotus CLM P1/01 at Fuji in 2014.

FIA World Endurance Championship results

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Year Teamname Car Engine Class Tyre Driver Races Points Pos.
2012   Lotus Lola B12/80 Lotus (Judd) 3.6 L V8 LMP2 D   Thomas Holzer 8 32 8th
  Mirco Schultis 7
  Luca Moro 4
  Renger van der Zande 1
  Christijan Albers 1
  Luca Moro 1 N/A NC
  Kevin Weeda 6
  James Rossiter 6
  Vitantonio Liuzzi 4
  Jan Charouz 1
2013   Lotus Lotus T128 Praga (Judd) LMP2 D   Kevin Weeda 8 11 8th
  Vitantonio Liuzzi 6
  Christophe Bouchut 4
  James Rossiter 4
  Lucas Auer 8
  Thomas Holzer 8 37 7th
  Dominik Kraihamer 8
  Jan Charouz 8
2014   Lotus CLM P1/01 AER P60 Turbo V6 LMP1-L M   James Rossiter 2 33 3rd
  Christophe Bouchut 2
  Lucas Auer 3
  Pierre Kaffer 4
  Simon Trummer 1
  Nathanaël Berthon 1
2015   Team ByKolles CLM P1/01 AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 LMP1 M   Simon Trummer 8 104 3rd
  Vitantonio Liuzzi 2
  Christian Klien 2
  Tiago Monteiro 1
  Pierre Kaffer 6
2016   ByKolles Racing Team CLM P1/01 AER P60 2.4 L Turbo V6 LMP1 D   Simon Trummer 9 109 2nd
  Oliver Webb 9
  James Rossiter 2
  Pierre Kaffer 6
2017   ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6 LMP1 M   Oliver Webb 4 N/A NC
  Dominik Kraihamer 4
  James Rossiter 2
  Marco Bonanomi 4
2018-2019   ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Nismo VRX30A 3.0 L Turbo V6
Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8
LMP1 M   Oliver Webb 5 22 4th
  Tom Dillmann 4
  Dominik Kraihamer 2
  René Binder 1
  James Rossiter 2
2019-2020   ByKolles Racing Team ENSO CLM P1/01 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 LMP1 M   Tom Dillmann 2 N/A NC
  Bruno Spengler 2
  Oliver Webb 2
2023   Vanwall Racing Team Vanwall Vandervell 680 Gibson GL458 4.5 L V8 LMH M   Tom Dillmann 4 10 7th
  Esteban Guerrieri 7
  Jacques Villeneuve 3
  Tristan Vautier 4
  João Paulo de Oliveira 2
  Ryan Briscoe 1
 
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

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Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2009   Kolles 14 Audi R10 TDI   Narain Karthikeyan[a]
  André Lotterer
  Charles Zwolsman Jr.
LMP1 369 7th 7th
15   Christijan Albers
  Christian Bakkerud
  Giorgio Mondini
360 9th 9th
2010   Kolles 14 Audi R10 TDI   Christophe Bouchut
  Manuel Rodrigues
  Scott Tucker
LMP1 182 DNF DNF
15   Christijan Albers
  Christian Bakkerud
  Oliver Jarvis
331 DNF DNF
2012   Lotus 31 Lola B12/80-Lotus (Judd)   Thomas Holzer
  Luca Moro
  Mirco Schultis
LMP2 155 DNF DNF
2013   Lotus 31 Lotus T128-Praga (Judd)   Christophe Bouchut
  James Rossiter
  Kevin Weeda
LMP2 17 DNF DNF
32   Jan Charouz
  Thomas Holzer
  Dominik Kraihamer
219 DNF DNF
2015   Team ByKolles 4 CLM P1/01-AER   Pierre Kaffer
  Tiago Monteiro
  Simon Trummer
LMP1 260 EX[b] EX
2016   ByKolles Racing Team 4 CLM P1/01-AER   Pierre Kaffer
  Simon Trummer
  Oliver Webb
LMP1 206 DNF DNF
2017   ByKolles Racing Team 4 ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo   Marco Bonanomi
  Dominik Kraihamer
  Oliver Webb
LMP1 7 DNF DNF
2018   ByKolles Racing Team 4 ENSO CLM P1/01-Nismo   Tom Dillmann
  Dominik Kraihamer
  Oliver Webb
LMP1 65 DNF DNF
2019   ByKolles Racing Team 4 ENSO CLM P1/01-Gibson   Tom Dillmann
  Paolo Ruberti
  Oliver Webb
LMP1 163 DNF DNF
2020   ByKolles Racing Team 4 ENSO CLM P1/01-Gibson   Tom Dillmann
  Bruno Spengler
  Oliver Webb
LMP1 97 DNF DNF
2023   Floyd Vanwall Racing Team 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680-Gibson   Tom Dillmann
  Esteban Guerrieri
  Tristan Vautier
Hypercar 165 DNF DNF

Timeline

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The series in which the team competed are listed:

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

Notes

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  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

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