The Vanwall Vandervell LMH is ready for its first test at the Most Autodrom – Colin Kolles does not rule out WEC entries if they let him
It’s finally there in all its glory – ByKolles Racing’s Vanwall Vandervell LMH shows off its finished state for the first time. A rollout is scheduled for this week, and then the first test drives with the Le Mans hypercar will soon take place at the Most Autodrom. At the wheel are the two official ByKolles drivers Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri.
Update 31 March, 18:45: The Vanwall has successfully completed its rollout and has already reached 300 km/h in the process. This means that nothing more stands in the way of test drives.
“We could have been much earlier. But after the ACO turned us down, we made it a point to produce the car to a very high quality. “
Vanwall was originally due to compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) as early as 2022, but the entry was rejected by the selection committee in January. Kolles still does not know the exact reasons, but it is suspected that the homologation deadline was missed. The gearbox from the supplier X-Trac did not fit at the first attempt and caused a delay of six months.
Now, however, they are ready for test drives in the Czech Republic at the beginning of April. The first pictures of the vehicle were very well received by the public. The appearance fits, and Kolles is convinced that the inner values are also right.
“I’m pleased that people like it so much. We have put a lot of effort into making sure that we have a high-performance, high-quality vehicle. I think we have succeeded. “
Road vehicle to follow next
Will there perhaps be a start in the 2022 WEC after all? After all, the FIA has already granted special permission for LMDh cars to make individual starts.
LMH cars are not included in this, but given the currently low number of hypercars, any additional reference point can do no harm. After all, Peugeot will also only compete after Le Mans. And Vanwall is the only manufacturer apart from ByKolles with a Le Mans hypercar without a hybrid powertrain.
“We have a WEC-compliant hypercar at a high technical level. Not many have that. If we are welcomed, we are ready to race,” says Kolles.
Development does not stand still even after the first race car is completed. “The next car will be the road car,” promises Colin Kolles. The Vanwall will appear in three versions: a 1,000 hp, 1,000 kilogram road-legal hybrid hypercar, the Le Mans hypercar (700 hp, 1,040 kilogram) and a trackday version (650 hp, 950 kilogram) each without a hybrid.
While the latter two are very similar, the road version is more clearly different, if only in the performance parameters. There is no exact timetable, but the road hypercar is due to make its debut in the coming months.
