Group boss Colin Kolles has revealed that the normally-aspirated 4.5-litre Gibson V8 that has powered the non-hybrid LMH throughout its maiden season within the WEC is being changed for subsequent 12 months.
Kolles, whose German-based staff previously ran beneath the ByKolles banner, wouldn’t reveal the id of the engine, although he did affirm it’s a turbocharged unit and a identified amount.
“We are able to say that we’re altering the engine for subsequent season,” Kolles informed Autosport.
“It will likely be a turbo and is a confirmed engine with sufficient energy and good reliability — it’s not in any method an experiment.”
Kolles carried over the Gibson GL458 V8 to the Vandervell from the final iteration of his squad’s CLM P1/01 LMP1 automobile, which ran with an AER V6 twin-turbo from its debut in 2014 after which a Nissan engine of comparable configuration in 2017 and all however the final two races 2018/19.
He acknowledged that the Gibson engine has been unable to achieve the utmost energy degree, measured on the wheels, allotted to the Vanwall within the Hypercar Stability of Efficiency.
“Within the warmth throughout the day in Bahrain we had been 60kW (80bhp) down and when it received cooler at evening the determine was 50kW [67hp],” mentioned Kolles.
The Vanwall was allowed a most energy of 520kW (697bhp) beneath the BoP over the ultimate three races of the season, having beforehand run at 511kW after which 512kW.
Gibson Applied sciences declined to remark about its engine’s energy output within the Vanwall.
Picture by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#4 Floyd Vanwall Racing Group Vanwall Vandervell 680: Esteban Guerrieri, Tristan Vautier, João Paulo de Oliveira
The previous ByKolles staff returned to the WEC beneath the Vanwall banner this season after having its entry turned down for 2022.
Ought to Ferrari decide to field a satellite entry in conjunction with a customer, the Hypercar discipline is more likely to be oversubscribed for 2024.
Requested if he’s assured of retaining his place on the grid, Kolles replied: “We are going to see, however we adjust to all of the laws”.
He insisted that the staff has “constructed an excellent chassis”, including that “it’s not an LMDh”, a reference to the next-generation LMP2 designs on which automobiles making the most of the choice route into the Hypercar class have to be constructed.
On the subject of of drivers for the automobile in 2024, he mentioned: “I don’t suppose that shall be a significant drawback”.
Esteban Guerrieri was the one driver to race the Vanwall in all seven races this 12 months.
Jacques Villeneuve left the team and was changed by Tristan Vautier after three races and Tom Dillmann departed after four events, with Joao Paulo de Oliveria after which Ryan Briscoe filling his seat.
The Vanwall developed in-house by Kolles’s operation scored its solely factors of 2023 with an eighth-place end in Hypercar on the season-opening Sebring 1000 Miles in March.