ByKolles Reveals First Image of Planned Hypercar

ByKolles Racing has released the first render of its projected FIA World Endurance Championship ‘Hypercar’ for the 2020-21 top-level prototype regulations.

The German squad, which currently runs its own NISMO-powered ENSO CLM P1/01 in the LMP1 category, plans to build a new car to race in the hybrid-based next-generation formula.

ByKolles first revealed its intentions to continue in the WEC’s top class in mid-December before opening a recruitment drive for additional staff to operate the program.

Team principal Manfredi Ravetto previously said that the team is aiming to be on the grid for the first season of the new regs which is set to get underway in mid-2020.

The Italian recently told Endurance-info that it is targeting to launch the product at next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, ahead of a two-car effort the following season.

“We are totally confident about the ‘Hypercar’ concept,” Ravetto said. “The FIA ​​and the ACO will achieve their goals because it is the right concept for the future of endurance racing and the best platform for independent teams to become constructors. ”

The current ByKolles team has been a regular fixture on the LMP1 grid since 2015 but the operation has its roots in the Lotus-badged prototype program that contested the first three WEC seasons. 

Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus is also known to be working on a hypercar program and is the only other constructor to have produced a preliminary render, while Toyota and ORECA have also expressed a keen interest in the regs.

Laurent Mercier contributed to this report