ByKolles Racing, formerly known as Kodewa, is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

team based in

Greding Greding () is a town in the district of Roth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 28 km southeast of Roth bei Nürnberg and 32 km north of Ingolstadt. Geography Greding is located in the south-eastern corner of Middle Franconia. The m ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The team most recently fielded the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

in 2023. It was founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son

Colin Kolles Colin Kolles (born Călin Colesnic; born 13 December 1967 in Timișoara) is a Romanian-German former team principal and managing director of the Hispania Racing F1 Team, previously holding a similar position at the team known under the names Jor ...

as Kolles Racing, but has undergone several rebrands over the years. These include a sponsorship deal with

Lotus Cars Lotus Group (also known as Lotus Cars) is a British multinational automotive manufacturer of luxury sports cars and electric vehicles. Lotus Group is composed of three primary entities. Lotus Cars, a high-performance sports car company, is ba ...

from 2012 to 2014, a failed takeover of Tyrrell's naming rights, and a subsequent switch to

Vanwall Vanwall was a British motor racing team and racing car constructor that was active in Formula One during the 1950s. Founded by Tony Vandervell, the Vanwall name was derived by combining the name of the team owner with that of his Thinwall ...

that went to court in 2023.

History

The company initially participated in German Formula 3 before moving to the

F3 Euro Series The Formula 3 Euro Series was a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched (in its current form) in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship. The F ...

from 2003 to 2005. Colin Kolles left the team to become director of the

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan and was based at Silverstone, England, but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the team ...

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been 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 The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

series with

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. A subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the compa ...

under the sponsorship title Futurecom TME. The Kolles team shifted their interest to

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

by participating in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...

and later the

Intercontinental Le Mans Cup The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (shortened ILMC) was an endurance sports car racing tournament organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) started in 2010.

, again with customer Audi prototypes. Kolles returned to Formula One to helm the

HRT F1 HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group ...

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. Lola B12-80 Lotus

Kodewa participated in the

2013 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the second season of the FIA World Endurance Championship auto racing series, co-organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). T ...

with the backing of

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 The CLM P1/01, renamed ENSO CLM P1/01 in 2017, is a sports prototype racing car built for Lotus Racing in 2014. The Lotus team entered the last five rounds of the World Endurance championship in 2014, but later took name as the Austrian based team ...

. In 2017

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...

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 The Caterham F1 Team was a Malaysian, later British owned Formula One team based in the United Kingdom which raced under a List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, Malaysian licence. The Caterham brand competed in the Formula One Wo ...

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 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dic ...

. This was announced to allow the team to contest in the then forthcoming

Le Mans Hypercar A Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) is a type of sports prototype race car that competes alongside LMDh entries in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. It also competes in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsC ...

class. On March 25, 2022, Kolles announced his intention to enter the car in the 2023

, 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 Christophe Bouchut (born 24 September 1966 in Voiron, Isère) is a French professional racing driver. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for Dexwet-df1 Racing and Alex Caffi Motorsport in a part-time effort. He won t ...

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 The 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship was the eleventh season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). T ...

in the Hypercar class with the Vanwall Vandervell 680, built to LMH specifications. The team's lineup would consist of

Tom Dillmann Tom Aston Dillmann (born 6 April 1989 in Mulhouse) is a French racing driver who competes for Inter Europol Competition in the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2025 European Le Mans Series and in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship. He has won the 2025 ...

Jacques Villeneuve Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve (; born 9 April 1971) is a Canadian former racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1994 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1994 to 1995 PPG Indy Car World Series, 1995, and Formula One from to . Villeneuve won t ...

and

Esteban Guerrieri Esteban Guerrieri (born 19 January 1985) is an Argentina, Argentine racing driver currently competing in the FIA TCR World Tour for the GOAT Racing JAS Motorsport, Honda team. His early career in single-seaters saw him become Formula Renault Euro ...

, 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 The 91st 24 Hours of Le Mans (), also known as the Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans (), was an Endurance racing (motorsport), automobile endurance race for teams of three drivers racing Le Mans Hypercar, Le Mans Hypercars (LMH), Le Mans Prototyp ...

and replaced with

Tristan Vautier Tristan Philippe Alain Vautier (born 22 August 1989) is a French professional racing driver who is currently competing in the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship for Proton Competition and in the 2025 European Le Mans Series for CLX Motorsport, CLX ...

. 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 João Paulo Lima de Oliveira (born 13 July 1981) is a Brazilian professional racing driver currently competing in the Japanese Super GT series and in the FIA World Endurance Championship driving for the Vanwall Racing Team. He won the Super GT G ...

for future rounds.

Ryan Briscoe Ryan John Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian–American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America. In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishin ...

would end up replacing de Oliveira for the final round of the season. In November 2023 the

2024 FIA World Endurance Championship The 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship was the twelfth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The s ...

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.

Results

German Formula Three Championship results

Formula 3 Euro Series results

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

Le Mans Series results

Christophe Bouchut escaping from burning Lotus 2014 WEC Fuji

FIA World Endurance Championship results

ENSO CLM P1-01 - 6 Hours of Silverstone 2017 - FIA WEC

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Timeline

The series in which the team competed are listed:

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kodewa German auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2000 2000 establishments in Germany 24 Hours of Le Mans teams Formula 3 Euro Series teams European Le Mans Series teams Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams German racecar constructors Italian Formula 3 teams German Formula 3 teams Audi in motorsport Austrian auto racing teams