24h Le Mans
At the age of 29, Frenchman Tom Dillmann has bags of experience and an impressive track record to match in formula racing. However, he is still pretty much a beginner in endurance as he has only competed in four FIA WEC races since 2015. This year, he has joined LMP1 outfit ByKolles Racing Team and is preparing for his first 24 Hours of Le Mans in the premium class.
Tom Dillmann did not skip any lessons at racing school. He can even boast two titles in the particularly renowned German Formula Three and the World Series Formula V8 3.5 championships, following in the footsteps of Michael Schumacher, Robert Kubica and Carlos Sainz Jr, no less. Could he have imagined that he would reach such heights when he won the Alsace soapbox championship at the tender age of ten? And yet he already had designs on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “Obviously when you love the sport and you compete in races, regardless of your level and your rivals, you dream of racing on the biggest stages like Formula One, Indy 500 and the 24 Hours. My father lined up at Le Mans in 1993 in a Porsche 911 Carrera 2, so of course I thought about it. When you’re a youngster and you see Le Mans – especially at night – with the atmosphere and the cars, you hope your turn will come some day.”
After earning a reputation for speed in single-seater series, Dillmann is now writing a new chapter in his career at the wheel of a prototype, the ENSO CLM P1/01 with which he soon felt comfortable.
“Yes, I got to grips with it quite easily. I felt at home as soon as I got into the car. Enough to drive aggressively, at any rate. Understanding the aerodynamics, tyre management, the range of possible settings, and so on, are all part and parcel of driving a single-seater, just as much as prototypes. Unlike cornering performance, however, where a GP2 or a Super Formula is clearly superior to a prototype.”
For the last two seasons, the ByKolles Racing Team prototype has been powered by the Nismo twin-turbo V6 engine that was mounted on the Nissan GT-R LM in 2015. This partnership with the Japanese manufacturer includes not only the supply of the engine, but also technical support on a day-to-day basis.
“Our collaboration with Nissan covers everything. We work with the marque’s engineers with the sole aim of boosting the overall performance of our car. The ByKolles engineers focus on the aero aspects while Nissan’s technicians are working all-out to upgrade the mechanical components to improve reliability. It’s a really committed relationship.”
