[WEC] Kolles Prototype

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by gustavobamba

Probably they need a new chassis to see the full potential of the NISMO engine.

In that context, they can also drop the LMP1 plans and move to GTE Am. I don't think that is what they are looking for.

[templer]

Originally Posted by Juntos

In that context, they can also drop the LMP1 plans and move to GTE Am. I don't think that is what they are looking for.

Team members wanted of course a new chassis and others had also the idea to run a customer chassis like Dallara or Ginetta, but the boss Dr. Colin Kolles doesn't want it.

Car lost 4 laps due to a repair to front and a replacement of the whole underbody after a contact of Oliver Webb. Looses later 12 minutes more after the wiring of the gearbox made problems. Later Rene Binder lost the car and hit the walls, so hard to say about the potential. Rene Binder tweeted that the starting position was far away from the car's potential. They did a lot of development work but had also more try and error than larger teams. They would need a solid race to have a look on their car's real potential. Wind tunnel test would also help but cost too much

[TF110]

Seems like the team needs a shot in the arm in terms of funds to get more talent and more resources to get on top of the reliability. Maybe it's best they trundle along with what they have and save money for the new rules.

[Juntos]

Did everyone miss this piece of comedy? https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...rcar-for-2020/


A well-balanced person is one who finds both sides of an issue laughable.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Juntos

Did everyone miss this piece of comedy? https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...rcar-for-2020/


A well-balanced person is one who finds both sides of an issue laughable.

I didn't catch the humor, could you point it out? Is it their aspirations to win LM? Or to come up with their own 'hypercar'? I think at least the latter is realistic seeing as how they've been racing for just about every season of the WEC so far in lmp1. At least partially. No other team has done that except Toyota.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by TF110

I didn't catch the humor, could you point it out? Is it their aspirations to win LM? Or to come up with their own 'hypercar'?

Both are very funny. How can they have aspirations to win LM if they don't even manage to finish it properly? It just ain't their story.

[Aysedasi]

But they try and they're loyal to the series. They deserve credit for that.

[chernaudi]

And to be fair, as of now at least, LMP1 is about the only place that a team can run and build their own cars.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

But they try and they're loyal to the series. They deserve credit for that.

I give you that. Nothing is more noble, nothing more venerable, than loyalty.

Originally Posted by chernaudi

And to be fair, as of now at least, LMP1 is about the only place that a team can run and build their own cars.

Not sure it still can make sense for them if they wish to win Le Mans.

[Aysedasi]

I suspect they know they're never likely to win Le Mans.

[Akrapovic]

If they don't enter LMP1, they literally cannot win. If they do enter LMP1, they have a chance, however small. Don't get me wrong, I'll still have a chuckle when the next car somehow still sets itself on fire, but if this is considered the worst team on the grid, then we're miles ahead of where we were 10-15 years ago.

The only way to guarantee failure is to not try.

[Adam43]

Yes there are things to smile about, criticise and wonder why. However, sometimes it should be remembered they aren’t just some dude posting on social media. They are racing at Le Mans, well until it catches on fire. That still earns you 68,000 more cool points.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Yes there are things to smile about, criticise and wonder why. However, sometimes it should be remembered they aren’t just some dude posting on social media. They are racing at Le Mans, well until it catches on fire. That still earns you 68,000 more cool points.

68,000 seems a bit low to me, but maybe that's relative a guy who likely won't even ever make it to LM never mind actually racing and building my own car. So I'd say unlike the rest, when Kolles says they're making a car the response is cool, let's see what they come with

[gert]

... and regarding their level of performance and (lack of) results:

For those who have followed CART/Indycar: remember how many years Dale Coyne Racing used to be at the back of the pack.
By now they have won 6 races, and while still not a true top team (like Ganassi/Penske/Andretti) nowadays at none of the races they can be counted out as a potential winner or podium finisher.

Who would have thought that in the mid 80's - late 90's ?

[courageous]

Where exactly does the money come from for all this? - who benefits & how exactly does any accountant justify the spend

[helgi]

I have the same question. We are told modern LMP1 is extremely expensive, it should be cost capped and so on. Only watchmakers and bank owners are able to have a private LMP1 team. And Kolles, with almost no sponsorship at all. Who are those ENSO? If you can build a modern LMP1 with almost no sponsorship, then why to destroy this class? Or budgets are high? Then, it's not understandable how Kolles is able do keep racing for such a long time.

[rich07]

I was wondering the same thing about ENSO and who they are. With Kolles involved anything is possible. That said good on em for having a crack. Used to not have a lot of love for them but over the last couple of years that changed and while they’re not gonna win anything I respect their commitment to the category. If they want to keep going under the new rules all the best to them. Let’s hope we see less fire.

[TF110]

A couple of days ago ByKolles put up a job(s) ad on their site. Now you see that endurance info and sc365 are running the story http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/byk...amme-hypercar/

All the talk about the team and how they are still around, looks like they will continue to be around for the new hypercar rules as well.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by rich07

I was wondering the same thing about ENSO and who they are.

ENSO seems to be a mysterious company. But the world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.

[GT6]

Well i am British so supporting the underdog is in my blood, always loved the Mazda's when i first started going to le mans in the early days when they seemed doomed to never be close to winning and look what happened to them, i was there and the entire pit straight cheered them home even those jaguar fans who had to watch the jags take the rest of the podium.

[Juntos]

Where observation is concerned, chance favours only the prepared mind. The team that aims to build a hypercar can't even sort out their engine thing?



I mean this: http://www.dailysportscar.com/2019/0...s-sebring.html

[Juntos]

Now I understand why they are skipping Sebring. They are saving a few bucks for this: http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/byk...hypercar-lmp1/

[TF110]

Obligatory picture of said project



I must say it looks good at least from this angle. I don't think saving up for that has anything to do with the current engine situation.

[GingerPixel]

Im so bloody confused about hypercars. Wasn't the point to provide more of a link to manufacturers and their road cars? Where does Kolles building a new flammable object fit into that philosophy? As long as the cars look good and go well I suppose I don't really care.

[andrewn7]

Originally Posted by GingerPixel

Im so bloody confused about hypercars. Wasn't the point to provide more of a link to manufacturers and their road cars? Where does Kolles building a new flammable object fit into that philosophy? As long as the cars look good and go well I suppose I don't really care.

I agree Ginger. I've been equally confused from the start about what "problem" Hypercars is designed to solve. To me it just creates far more problems than it solves, not the least of which being the design / production costs and subsequent 25-30M annual budget! As for ByKolles, much as I love the underdog, the record of cars coming back once they've been away is patchy at best, especially when its something as major as a new engine install. We can hope I guess.....