Rant from Colin Kolles at Vanwall: “Too many human errors! »

La tête des mauvais jours. Placé au bout de l’estrade, Colin Kolles écoute sans broncher les interventions des pilotes Toyota, puis des représentants de Peugeot and, finally, its pilot Tom Dillmann. The Frenchman says he is very happy to be there, to be part of this new golden age ofEndurance.

« Obviously, we are a more modest manufacturer than Ferrari, Porsche, Toyota ou Peugeot mais nous avons un nom et un héritage à défendre, confides the former champion of F3 German.

Being called Vanwall is an extra source of motivation, and it's very rewarding to fight against such brands and try to beat them. »

The Alsatian continues with the youth of the car which lacks kilometers, and the debut at Sebring which he considers satisfactory. “ We managed to finish the race without any major problems, with the exception of one contact, explains the man from Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin). For performance, you have to move forward step by step. Here we have the same car as in Florida.

As we haven't done any testing between the two races, we try to get the most out of each session to take a step in the right direction each time. It's going to take a little time to optimize the car and get us closer, but morale is high! »

His, perhaps. That of his boss, much less.

Kolles chafouin

To the journalist responsible for hosting the press conference and who praised the promising nature of the opening round at Sebring, the German manager issued a scathing denial.

« In my mind, Sebring was, on the contrary, a terrible weekend., says Kolles without opening his teeth. We could have been much better, but it didn't work operationally. The team did not meet the expectations placed on it.

There were too many human errors, which led to the worst possible outcome. Hence the structural changes that we are working on to improve the operational aspect of the team. »

Slight uneasiness in the assembly since, generally, these internal “hiccups” are discussed behind the closed doors of the motor home. While the Spa-Francorchamps event (April 29) and especially the Centenary of 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 10-11) are fast approaching, the timing is perhaps not the best to review the structures of the team, but the boss accepts it.

« Now that the car is in Europe, we will test as much as possible, he says. We have a solid base between our hands and we need to work on the settings to improve performance, but for this to be possible, we must start by minimizing errors within the team.

That's our biggest issue right now, and the goal is to improve the operations side and resolve the issues we had at Sebring that were human in nature, not mechanical. »

Atmosphere, therefore, in the Vanwall garage while on the track, the Vandervell 680 once again had to settle for the 11th and final time in the Hypercar category, far, very far from the untouchable Toyota.

Headliner of the Vanwall project, Jacques Villeneuve is for the moment far from panicking the times… / © DPPI