Colin Kolles: “We are here to win!” »

Often perceived as the man of lost causes, initiator of so many rescues in Formula 1, the ex-owner of Caterham and creator of ByKolles Racing never had the means to achieve his ambitions in Endurance. Which could change with Vanwall and the emergence of Hypercar.

Published on 03/04/2023 à 09:42

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Colin Kolles - Co-founder and Team Principal Vanwall Racing Team © Joao Filipe / DPPI

Colin, your fight has often been that of David against Goliath, is this still the case with this new project or do you have the means to achieve your ambitions this time?

Thanks to the Hypercar regulations, we believe we have a great chance of being competitive again against the most powerful manufacturers. When we were racing in LM P1, there were in fact two categories: those of the private teams and those of the factory teams with a huge difference in terms of performance. The latter could put four-wheel drive cars on the track, have a hybrid system, there was no BoP, etc. It's totally different now, also in terms of financing, because you have a car approved for five years. You have a few “wild cards” in the form of development tokens, but it is not unlimited. We can now spend the money that the big guys invest; which was not the case before.

Was the BoP the argument that decided ultimately of your commitment?