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ByKolles Racing

Endurance racing team

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

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, a failed takeover of Tyrrell's naming rights, and a subsequent switch to Vanwall that went to court in 2023.

01History

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.

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

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

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.

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."

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. The team officially rebranded to become the Vanwall Racing Team 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.

The Vanwall name was registered as a marque by Kolles' agents PMC, in Germany, before the launch of the car. 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.

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. 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. Ryan Briscoe would end up replacing de Oliveira for the final round of the season. In November 2023 the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship entry list was announced and did not include the team. 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.

Kodewa's Lola B12/80-Lotus at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans
Kodewa's Lola B12/80-Lotus at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans
Vanwall Racing Team Logo
Vanwall Racing Team Logo
Carlo van Dam's Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 at Hockenheim in 2009.
Carlo van Dam's Kolles & Heinz Union Dallara F309 at Hockenheim in 2009.

02Results

German Formula Three Championship results

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

Formula 3 Euro Series results

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

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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

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

FIA World Endurance Championship results

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) 3.6 L V8 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 2.4 L 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

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Entrant No. Car Drivers Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2009 Kolles 14 Audi R10 TDI Narain Karthikeyan
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 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
Vanina Ickx's Futurecom TME Audi at Brands Hatch in 2006.
Vanina Ickx's Futurecom TME Audi at Brands Hatch in 2006.
Christophe Bouchut escaping from a burning Lotus CLM P1/01 at Fuji in 2014.
Christophe Bouchut escaping from a burning Lotus CLM P1/01 at Fuji in 2014.
Kolles' Audi R10 TDI at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2009.
Kolles' Audi R10 TDI at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2009.

03Timeline

The series in which the team competed are listed:

The Lotus T128 at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Lotus T128 at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans.
ByKolles' ENSO CLM P1/01 at Silverstone in 2017.
ByKolles' ENSO CLM P1/01 at Silverstone in 2017.
Watch videos about ByKolles RacingExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article ByKolles Racing, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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