[WEC] Kolles Prototype

[Damian Baldi]

from Pierre Kaffer FB page.

Has been a difficult first day for us. Unfortunately we have a lot of small problems with all the new Up Dates to make it work. Will be not easy with all the weather forecast at the moment. Today we work on our Set Up to developing our Car in the right direction.

[supermario21]

Congrats to CK, outqualifying the Nissans!

[kvenom]

A titanic battle awaits between Kolles and Nissan! The challenge? Who makes it to 3hrs!


Joking joking... I do wish the Kolles effort well and it would be cool to see them beat a works team (no matter what state they are in.)

[Deleted]

So.

Negative
- Crap pace
- They clearly need a bit more budget for parts
- Crap pace
- AER straight line speed now the lowest of all P1 cars (Rebellion units miles away too)
- Disqualified in the end due to IIRC driver weight... really
- Did I mention how crap the pace was?

Positive
+ They actually somehow managed to last 24 hours, even if disqualified and unclassified, but anyway who saw that coming??????????????????????
+ More laps than any of the Nissans, be proud Colin

The way Graham and Sam called this entry a "joke" and totally disregarded & passed it in RLM Thursday Pit Walk was kinda funny, but still bit harsh don't ya think? Especially since many about as deserving teams or amateur drivers (sorry "non-professional sportsman drivers" as the politically correct wording appears to be today) seem to get treated with kid gloves

[chernaudi]

I think that a lot of angst and ridicule that people have for this team isn't so much the team itself but the image of Collin Kolles not being press friendly and the fact that he's been fired from/forced to resign from every F1 team he's worked for, or else the team seems to get run into the ground.

The motorsports press don't seem to like that guy...

[TF110]

Too bad they dont have hundreds of millions to spend, itd be nice to see this car up front. If that were the case we would probably see people ask who Kolles made friends with!

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

I think that a lot of angst and ridicule that people have for this team isn't so much the team itself but the image of Collin Kolles not being press friendly and the fact that he's been fired from/forced to resign from every F1 team he's worked for, or else the team seems to get run into the ground.

The motorsports press don't seem to like that guy...

His treatment of Dallara during his HRT years did it for me. He didn't pay the bills for 3 months, then complained that the car was under developed (you know, 3 months behind after not being paid), when it was delivered they complained it was awful and should be binned, but then proceeded to use it to decent effect for 2-3 years with only minor upgrades. Oh, and trying to blackmail members of the F1 paddock. That's always a crowd pleaser.

[chernaudi]

Kolles does have the rep of also being a seedy character. Not that the motorsports world is a realm or moral purity--quite the opposite, in reality.

But there's the slight amorality of teams trying to win vs plain old sinful amorality and douchebagery and crap-stirring that's a big turn off, be it in "real life" and the motorsports world.

[TzeiTzei]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

His treatment of Dallara during his HRT years did it for me. He didn't pay the bills for 3 months, then complained that the car was under developed (you know, 3 months behind after not being paid), when it was delivered they complained it was awful and should be binned, but then proceeded to use it to decent effect for 2-3 years with only minor upgrades. Oh, and trying to blackmail members of the F1 paddock. That's always a crowd pleaser.

Tbh Kolles wasn't the money man at HRT. It was Carabante.

[Damian Baldi]

I think the team was what everybody expected about speed and reliability, but they finish the race!

His speed was really bad at the beginning, but if you see the laptimes of the morning, Kaffer was doing better lap times than Rebellions. He got a 3.33 as best, that is far from the 3.26 of the Rebellion but no so bad for Le Mans.

The Rebellion cars lost more than 50 laps too (because engine problems), so I think there is no point to treat these teams as crap for that.

Drivers needed more testing (all drivers did by far better lap times in the morning), the car needs new updated (Monteiro said that the updated parts they tried in practice were discarded for the race).

[Giba]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

I think that a lot of angst and ridicule that people have for this team isn't so much the team itself but the image of Collin Kolles not being press friendly and the fact that he's been fired from/forced to resign from every F1 team he's worked for, or else the team seems to get run into the ground.

The motorsports press don't seem to like that guy...

I completely understand why people don't like Mr Kolles but a lot of people put their time and effort into running the car and after everything managed to get the car across the finish line. At Le Mans, there always seems to be one car that is really slow and people question why it's there but if the team can get the car to the end of the race after others couldn't then they have earned my respect

[tux]

Originally Posted by Damian Baldi

I think the team was what everybody expected about speed and reliability, but they finish the race!

His speed was really bad at the beginning, but if you see the laptimes of the morning, Kaffer was doing better lap times than Rebellions. He got a 3.33 as best, that is far from the 3.26 of the Rebellion but no so bad for Le Mans.

The Rebellion cars lost more than 50 laps too (because engine problems), so I think there is no point to treat these teams as crap for that.

Drivers needed more testing (all drivers did by far better lap times in the morning), the car needs new updated (Monteiro said that the updated parts they tried in practice were discarded for the race).

Also the point should be made it wasnt just Kolles with engine problems during the race, Rebellion had the same issues with their engine. Granted Kolles had more issues than just the engine. fuel pump, fire, suspension failure.

[templer]

Nobody must have sympathies for Mr. Kolles, but the team did not consist only of one person.

The team has still a lot to do to make the car more competitive, but the modifications were not all in vain. The car improved their lap time by more than 3 seconds in the race compared to the qualifying. So things are moving on. Of course there is still a large gap to Rebellion, but maybe they can come closer. They still need a better aero with more downforce for much less drag.

But the team has worked hard as hell and changed 10 fuel pumps which was not a team problem or a construction mistake, it was a supplier problem around the AER engine. They never gave up and brought the car over the finish line. So for this they earned my respect.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Giba

I completely understand why people don't like Mr Kolles but a lot of people put their time and effort into running the car and after everything managed to get the car across the finish line. At Le Mans, there always seems to be one car that is really slow and people question why it's there but if the team can get the car to the end of the race after others couldn't then they have earned my respect

Originally Posted by templer

Nobody must have sympathies for Mr. Kolles, but the team did not consist only of one person.

The team has still a lot to do to make the car more competitive, but the modifications were not all in vain. The car improved their lap time by more than 3 seconds in the race compared to the qualifying. So things are moving on. Of course there is still a large gap to Rebellion, but maybe they can come closer. They still need a better aero with more downforce for much less drag.

But the team has worked hard as hell and changed 10 fuel pumps which was not a team problem or a construction mistake, it was a supplier problem around the AER engine. They never gave up and brought the car over the finish line. So for this they earned my respect.

Couldn't agree more, the team did a fantastic job keeping the car going. My hat is off to them.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by tux

Also the point should be made it wasnt just Kolles with engine problems during the race, Rebellion had the same issues with their engine. Granted Kolles had more issues than just the engine. fuel pump, fire, suspension failure.

Yeah but it was the first ever race Rebellion Orecas have utilized Orecas, while Kolles have been carrying the unit for quite a while now. Also the Rebellions were caught in accidents with other cars, while Kolles was cruising along the Nissans at the bottom

[tux]

I know that, i wasnt trying to say in anyway Kolles were better than Rebellion, just making the point that both teams had engine problems with the AER.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Yeah but it was the first ever race Rebellion Orecas have utilized Orecas, while Kolles have been carrying the unit for quite a while now. Also the Rebellions were caught in accidents with other cars, while Kolles was cruising along the Nissans at the bottom

Not quite, they were faster than the Nissans when running cleanly and were actually on the edges of the top 10 about 2 hours in before the mechanical issues started piling up.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Yeah but it was the first ever race Rebellion Orecas have utilized Orecas, while Kolles have been carrying the unit for quite a while now. Also the Rebellions were caught in accidents with other cars, while Kolles was cruising along the Nissans at the bottom

That's irrelevant to what tux was saying.

Anyway, I'm just catching up on news and I hadn't realised that they were excluded from the race (worse than not classified) because the drivers didn't eat enough pies (they fell foul of the new driver ballast rules).

[haribo]

Originally Posted by Adam43

That's irrelevant to what tux was saying.

Anyway, I'm just catching up on news and I hadn't realised that they were excluded from the race (worse than not classified) because the drivers didn't eat enough pies (they fell foul of the new driver ballast rules).

I'd love to hear a radio transmission like that - "Tiago - you are 1kg underweight - Please munch on this cheese and onion pasty to bring you back overweight"

[TF110]

We did hear "(driver), please remember to drink". Same idea in that message or just concern over hydration?

[haribo]

Originally Posted by TF110

We did hear "(driver), please remember to drink". Same idea in that message or just concern over hydration?

Although some people on here do have a downer on the EuroSport commentary, one of the commentators did mention immediately after hearing that message that it was to do with keeping the drivers above their weight limit.

They also mentioned the difficulties in doing so. I.e. - drinking too early on in the stint and then needing a wee - balanced against attempting to drink very warm water after it has heated up significantly.

[TF110]

I didnt have eurosport coverage so my suspicions were pretty close about that message.

[Deleted]

Still just barely ahead of P2s again at the Ring test, but at least they managed to pull of plenty of laps, almost as many as factory cars in total if the photos taken by Toyota were near the end of sessions.

Wings still low.

[Deleted]

The team seems to be slowly activating in the social media and fan activation department - there's even a meet-and-greet opp now
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...36117229968729
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...36117549968697

It's good to see them opening a little and also not giving up despite the disappointing on track running.

[Deleted]

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/k...mp1-l-victory/

- New diffuser
- New floor
- New tunnels
- New rear wing
- Allegedly fixed the issues in regards to gearbox, differential and brakes

Lots of new parts, let's see if they make any real difference, didn't quite at Spa. Kaffer says he thinks staying ahead of LMP2s is no longer an issue. Brave goal.

Anyway the most interesting part:

“The biggest aim is to fight for the [class] victory against Rebellion and make the car reliable,” he said. “I think from next year on, there will be more competition in this category and it will be much more fun to drive.

Who is he referring to, or has he mixed up 2016 with 17? Strakka doesn't come up until then. I guess he could mean Oak or SARD - assuming he isn't just guessing in the first place - but would it really be too wise for people to build their car before the 2017 new regs demand modifications to X degree.

But in any case, the quote does seem to confirm Kolles continuing into next year, which while moderately expected shouldn't necessarily have been taken as totally granted yet.