Category | Le Mans Prototype (LMP1) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Lotus (Kodewa) | ||||||
Designer(s) | Paul White (chief designer) [1] | ||||||
Successor | Vanwall Vandervell 680 | ||||||
Technical specifications [2] [3] | |||||||
Chassis | Carbon fibre composite monocoque | ||||||
Suspension (front) | Independent double wishbones with adjustable dampers | ||||||
Suspension (rear) | Independent double wishbones with adjustable dampers | ||||||
Wheelbase | 13 in × 18 in (330.2 mm × 457.2 mm) | ||||||
Engine | Gibson GL458 4.5L V8 Naturally Aspirated AER P60 2.4L V6 Twin-Turbocharged | ||||||
Transmission | X-Trac 7-speed sequential manual | ||||||
Power | 600 bhp (608 PS; 447 kW) | ||||||
Weight | 850 kg | ||||||
Fuel | Shell | ||||||
Lubricants | Various | ||||||
Brakes | Carbon Ceramic Discs | ||||||
Tyres | Michelin (previously Dunlop) | ||||||
Competition history | |||||||
Notable entrants | ByKolles Racing Lotus | ||||||
Notable drivers | Simon Trummer Pierre Kaffer James Rossiter Oliver Webb Christophe Bouchut Lucas Auer Nathanaël Berthon Christian Klien Tiago Monteiro Vitantonio Liuzzi Dominik Kraihamer Marco Bonanomi René Binder Tom Dillmann Paolo Ruberti Bruno Spengler | ||||||
Debut | 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas | ||||||
Last event | 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans | ||||||
| |||||||
Teams' Championships | 0 | ||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
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 ByKolles Racing. It is designed to meet the 2014 LMP1-L regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The P1/01 debuted at the 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, round four of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
ByKolles Racing, previously known as Kodewa or Lotus Racing, were participating in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class, fielding a pair of Lotus T128 chassis. In 2014, Lotus Racing confirmed that they would enter the LMP1 class with a new chassis, provisionally named the Lotus T129. The new chassis missed the first three rounds of the season, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and made its racing debut, renamed as the CLM P1/01, at the 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas. [4]
The car made its public debut at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, renamed as the Lotus P1/01, however, the car was not able to run in any session of the event due to a change in the engine the car was going to use. The car was originally going to use a 4-litre, naturally aspirated Audi V8, but the deal collapsed due to unknown reasons, and the car was fitted with a 2.4-litre twin turbo V6 from AER. [4] [5] The car made its racing debut at the next round of the World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas, with car number #9. Although the car was not able to qualify, it finished the event in second place in the LMP1-L class, completing 140 laps, nine laps down on the class winning Rebellion R-One. At the following race in Fuji, the car burst into flames after 181 laps, after a fuel line ruptured. The driver of the car at the time, Christophe Bouchut, escaped without injury, but left the team after the race. The P1/01 claimed one more finish at the following event in Shanghai, but was unable to finish at Bahrain or São Paulo.
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
2014 | Lotus | LMP1-L | | Lucas Auer Christophe Bouchut James Rossiter Pierre Kaffer Simon Trummer Nathanaël Berthon | 4, 6, 8 4–5 4–5 5–8 7 7 | SIL | SPA | LMN | COA 2 | FUJ Ret | SHA 3 | BHR Ret | SÃO Ret | 33 | 3rd | |
Minor changes were made to the P1/01 for the 2015 season, including the transmission casing and a change to the bodywork. The revised car made its debut in March, at the Paul Ricard circuit. The car's number also changed from #9 to #4 for this season. The P1/01 claimed its first two wins in the Privateer class, at the Nurburgring and at the Circuit of the Americas. However, the car was excluded from the results of the 24 Hours of Le Mans due to incorrect driver weight ballast. [6]
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
2015 | Team ByKolles | LMP1 | | Simon Trummer Vitantonio Liuzzi Christian Klien Pierre Kaffer Tiago Monteiro | All 1–2 1–2 3–8 3 | SIL Ret | SPA Ret | LMN EX | NUR 1 | COA 1 | FUJ 2 | SHA 2 | BHR 2 | 104 | 3rd | |
The P1/01 returned in 2016, with radically changed bodywork in order to improve the aerodynamics of the car. The car kept the same number as the previous season, #4. The gearbox was also upgraded to a 7-speed from a 6-speed, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. [7] The car struggled with reliability issues throughout the season, culminating in fires at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Nürburgring. The Rebellion Racing team withdrew one of their two cars from the championship after Nürburgring, leaving only two cars in the class. The car managed to claim a win in the 2016 6 Hours of Shanghai after the competing Rebellion R-One had technical issues. The car finished 2nd in the Private LMP1 Teams championship.
At the post season rookie test in Bahrain, Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica tested the car. [8]
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||
2016 | ByKolles Racing Team | LMP1 | | Simon Trummer Oliver Webb James Rossiter Pierre Kaffer | 1–9 1–9 1–2 3–5, 7-9 | SIL 3 | SPA 3 | LMN Ret | NUR Ret | MEX 2 | COA 2 | FUJ Ret | SHA 1 | BHR 2 | 109 | 2nd | |
The P1/01 was the only non-hybrid entry in the LMP1 class. Along with this, there was no longer a trophy for private LMP1 teams. As such, it was greatly outclassed by its hybrid competition from Porsche and Toyota. The car had a few upgrades coming into the season, most notably addition of the Nissan Nismo VRX30A Evo from Nissan's flopped GT-R LM program over the previous 2.4-litre twin turbo V6 designed by AER. Aerodynamics were also improved and weight of the car was reduced. [9] At Silverstone, the P1/01 completed 155 laps but was involved in a collision with the #97 Aston Martin at the pit lane entry, causing enough damage to the front to make it unable to finish the race. At the Spa-Francorchamps round, the P1/01 managed to finish in 6th position two laps behind the #9 Toyota TS050 Hybrid and one lap ahead of the LMP2 leader, the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca run by TDS. At Le Mans, the P1/01 driven by Oliver Webb was forced to retire after debris from the track impacted the front of the car on the opening lap, breaking the steering and damaging the bodywork. This subsequently lead to the engine overheating whenever the car was sent back out. [10] Ultimately, the car became the first retirement of the race. In its final race of the season at Nurburgring, the P1/01 came in 14th overall and 5th in class. Following this race, Team ByKolles decided to retire for the remainder of the season to focus on improving for the 2018-2019 season due to new LMP1 entries from Rebellion, SMP and Ginetta. [11]
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |||||||||
2017 | ByKolles Racing Team | LMP1 | | Dominik Kraihamer Oliver Webb James Rossiter Marco Bonanomi | 1–4 1–4 1–2 3-4 | SIL Ret | SPA 6 | LMN Ret | NUR 5 | MEX | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | N/A | NC | |
The P1/01 came into the 2018-2019 super season relatively unchanged. It retained the Nismo VRX30A engine. Unlike the previous season, the P1/01 was not the only LMP1 non hybrid entry, being joined by Rebellion's R-13, SMP and Dragonspeed's BR Engineering BR1s and CEFC TRSM Racing's Ginetta G60-LT-P1. Despite this, a privateer LMP1 team championship was still unavailable. At the first round of the season at Spa-Francorchamps, the P1/01 managed to finish in 4th place overall (2nd among privateer teams) after several other of the privateer LMP1s had issues affecting their ability to finish the race. [12] At Le Mans, the P1/01 was forced to retire after Dominik Kraihamer collided with the #80 Ebimotors GTE-Am Porche while attempting to pass it at the Porsche curves. [13] The car then made heavy impact with the wall, damaging it beyond repair for the race, continuing the car's bad luck at Le Mans. At Silverstone, the P1/01 was forced to retire again after a spin rendered the car inoperable. The P1/01 finished in 5th place overall (3rd among privateer teams) behind the #3 Rebellion Racing and #11 SMP Racing Entry at the Fuji round. At Shanghai, the car had to be retired after engine issues caused it to stop on the main straight.
In early February of 2019, it was announced that ByKolles would be missing the 1000 Miles of Sebring after a dispute with Nissan, their engine supplier, over performance and payment of the Nismo VRX30A engine. It was also implied that the team was considering a change in engine suppliers going forward. [14] On February 15, ByKolles officially announced that they had changed engine suppliers, opting to drop the Nissan Nismo VRX30A in favor of the Gibson GL458 4.5 litre V8, the same engine powering Rebellion's R13s and DragonSpeed's BR Engineering BR1. [15]
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
2018-2019 | ByKolles Racing Team | LMP1 | | Dominik Kraihamer Oliver Webb James Rossiter René Binder Tom Dillmann Paolo Ruberti | 1–2 1–5, 7-8 4-5 3 1-2, 4-5, 7-8 7-8 | SPA 4 | LMN DNF | SIL DNF | FUJ 5 | SHA DNF | SEB | SPA 7 | LMN DNF | 22.5 | 4th | |
Ahead of the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans, team owner Colin Kolles announced that the team would not be participating in the full WEC season, and would instead participate in selected races, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the team sought to develop a new car for the Le Mans Hypercar regulations. [16] Initially, the team's entry for the 2020 Le Mans was placed on the reserve list, [17] [18] before being promoted following the withdrawal of the SRT41 Garage 56 entry, and the Porsche North America GTE-Pro entries. [19] Prior to the Automobile Club I'Ouest's confirmation of the team's promotion to the official entry list, the team resumed its testing programme with a new Le Mans aero package. [20]
The team entered the 2020 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Oliver Webb, Tom Dillmann and Bruno Spengler driving the ENSO CLM, in the car's Le Mans-style low-downforce aero kit. [21] The team qualified 4th overall for the race, [22] but finished in 27th overall, 14 laps down on the winning Toyota TS050 Hybrid. [23] [24]
Year | Nat. | Entrant | Class | Nat. | Drivers | Rds. | Rounds | Points | WEP pos. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |||||||||
2019-2020 | ByKolles Racing Team | LMP1 | | Tom Dillmann Bruno Spengler Oliver Webb | 6-7 6-7 6-7 | SIL | FUJ | SHA | BAH | COA | SPA 4 | LMN DNF | BAH | N/A | NC | |
ByKolles entered the P1/01 in the closing round of the 2024 Masters Endurance Legends season at Mugello, with Christophe Bouchut driving the car and winning the first of the two races. [25]
Rebellion Racing was a Swiss racing team that competed in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams' title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season. The team started as an association between Speedy Racing and Sebah Racing, which began in 2008. Rebellion Racing's last team principal was Alexandre Pesci and the team manager was Bart Hayden.
The HPD ARX-03a, ARX-03b, and ARX-03c are Le Mans Prototypes race cars developed by Honda Performance Development in 2012. The 03a model utilizes a Honda V8 engine for use in the LMP1 category, while the 03b uses a turbocharged V6 engine for the LMP2 category. Three teams have already announced their use of the ARX-03 in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the American Le Mans Series, as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Muscle Milk Pickett Racing have purchased an 03a for use in the American Le Mans Series, joined by two 03bs for Level 5 Motorsports. In the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, Strakka Racing and JRM Racing campaigned a single 03a each, joined by a single-car 03b entry by Starworks Motorsport in LMP2.
Mathias Beche Aussel is a Swiss-French professional racing driver who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series for Richard Mille by TDS. He is a former ELMS champion in the LMP2 class, as well as an LMP1-L champion and overall race winner in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Rebellion Racing.
ByKolles Racing, formerly known as Kodewa, is an Austrian-German auto racing team based in Greding, Germany. The team most recently fielded the No. 4 Vanwall Vandervell 680 in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2023. It was founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son Colin Kolles as Kolles Racing, but has undergone several rebrands over the years. These include a sponsorship deal with Lotus Cars from 2012 to 2014, a failed takeover of Tyrrell's naming rights, and a subsequent switch to Vanwall that went to court in 2023.
The Lotus T128 is a Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) designed by former Sauber technical director James Key and built by Advanced Design and Engineering Systems Solutions (ADESS) and Kodewa. It was used by Kodewa in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship under the name Lotus. Stéphane Chosse, the founder of ADESS, first proposed building a Le Mans prototype car in March 2011. The vehicle's construction began in February 2013, eleven months after Kodewa acquired two chassis. The T128's aerodynamic study was carried out using a computer-aided software mesh tool from Altair Engineering, and aerodynamics was the main priority in its design, with Chosse taking a similar approach as when he was involved in Formula One. It uses a naturally aspirated V8 engine from the BMW S65, which is also used in the company's M3 model, and produces around 450 horsepower (340 kW).
The 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the third 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). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars from four ACO categories. World Championship titles were awarded for Le Mans Prototypes drivers and for LMP1 manufacturers, and several World Endurance Cups and Endurance Trophies were also awarded. The eight race series began in April at the Silverstone Circuit and concluded in November at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace.
The Rebellion R-One is a sports prototype racing car built by French constructor Oreca on behalf of Swiss-based team Rebellion Racing. It is designed to meet the 2014 LMP1-L regulations for Le Mans Prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and replaces the Lola B12/60 chassis. The first two R-Ones debuted at the 2014 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The Rebellion R-One shares the same monocoque as the Oreca 05, and the Oreca 07.
The 2014 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas was a six-hour endurance sports car racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas on 20 September 2014. It served as the fourth of eight rounds of the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship and was the second time the race was held as part of the championship. A total of 50,334 spectators attended the event.
The 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season was the fourth 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). The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World championship titles were awarded for Le Mans Prototypes drivers and for manufacturers in the LMP1 category, and several World Endurance Cups and Endurance Trophies were also awarded in all four categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and ended at the Bahrain International Circuit in November after eight rounds, and included the 83rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
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The 2016 6 Hours of Silverstone was a six-hour endurance sports car racing event held for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England on 15–17 April 2016. Silverstone served as the opening round of the 2016 FIA World Endurance Championship, and was the fifth running of the event as part of the championship. A total of 52,000 people attended the race weekend.
The 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship was the sixth season of the FIA World Endurance Championship, an auto racing series co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series is open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars divided into four categories. The season began at the Silverstone Circuit in April and will end at the Bahrain International Circuit in November, and include the 85th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. World championship titles will be awarded to the leading prototype drivers and manufacturers, while for the first time in the World Endurance Championship the leading grand touring drivers and manufacturers will also be awarded a world championship.
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