Ryan Briscoe has completed the ByKolles-run Vanwall Hypercar team driver line-up for the final race on the 2023 World Endurance Championship season in Bahrain.

With Joao Paulo de Oliveira’s clash with the Super GT season finale in Motegi, one day after the WEC race, Vanwall has announced Ryan Briscoe to take his place.

The Australian-American driver has already competed in three WEC rounds this year – including the Centenary Le Mans – as part of Glickenhaus’ Hypercar efforts, having driven for them since their debut in 2021.

After the entry list for the 8 Hours of Bahrain was announced last month, Briscoe will join regulars Esteban Guerrieri and Tristan Vautier in the #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680.

Briscoe said: “I’m pleased to be joining the team for the final round of the 2023 World Endurance Championship.

“I’d like to thank Dr Colin Kolles for the opportunity and look forward to my first laps in the Vandervell 680.”

Vanwall Team Principal Dr. Colin Kolles added: “Ryan is an excellent driver with a lot of experience in Prototype Racing cars.

“With Esteban, Tristan and Ryan we have a strong line up for the last event of the 2023 FIA WEC season.”

After retiring thrice this season, the #4 Hypercar team are looking to surpass their best race finish of eighth undertaken at the 1000 Miles of Sebring opener.

At the most recent race in Fuji, they finished 11th out of 12 Hypercar entries.

The final round of the 2023 schedule will take place on 4 November, concluding the Vanwall’s first Hypercar season.

Tom Dillmann and Floyd Vanwall have mutually agreed to part ways, the the team has announced on Twitter.

A team statement said: “Vanwall and Tom Dillmann reached a mutual agreement to end the 2023 WEC collaboration in good terms.

“We wish Tom, who supported our program with his skills for the last 5 years all the best for the future.”

Dillmann has raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Vanwall, formerly known as ByKolles, since 2018, in four different editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans — 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023. He took a two year gap as the team did not race in 2021 and 2022, as the car was not ready in 2021 and there was a legal case over the use of the Vanwall name in 2022.

This means the team has one driver left of the original trio who started the season — Esteban Guerrieri, who debuted with the team and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. The team’s other driver who started the season, Jacques Villenueve, was replaced for Le Mans by Tristian Vautier, with the team saying he’d be back in the car for the next WEC round at Monza. 

However, Villenueve then said in his own statement that he was ending his own collaboration with the team, and had not received any official communication or confirmation from the team about his status.

It is not clear why Dillmann has left the team, or who’ll he’ll be replaced by for Monza. His own statement, also made on Twitter, says: ​​”Vanwall and I have reached a mutual agreement to end our 2023 WEC collaboration in good terms.

“I wish the team all the best for the future and thank them for their trust the last 5 years!

“For me it is time to move on and provocate a new chapter. Thank you all for your support.”

The new Vandervell Vanwall 680 is not enjoying the bumps at Sebring International Raceway, team driver Jacques Villeneuve told MotorsportWeek.com.

‘It’s not handling the bumps well at all and it’s very very difficult to drive. It surprises you all the time,’ said the 1997 F1 world champion.

He continued, “So we’re not in the right ballpark with the setup, with the mechanical setup of the car. And we don’t understand it yet. So we’re still trying to understand what’s happening and and why it’s it’s doing what it’s doing.

He continued: “The car is brand new — we don’t understand it yet. This is a test session for us. So this is the first step.”

The car is built by the team formerly known as ByKolles, now known as Vanwall. The team has tested at many tracks around Europe for the past two years, but Sebring poses a unique challenge due to its mid-20th century concrete slabs and the bumps these create between each slab.

When asked specifically why the car was so difficult to drive, Villeneuve replied, “It’s very difficult because it’s very unstable right now. So, it’s a handful. You know, every corner you’re actually fighting the car. It’s not natural yet, so we we need to figure something out.”

The Prologue, last weekend, was Vanwall’s first chance to drive the car at Sebring. While it was a valuable test, Villeneuve said it was also fraught with issues.

“Yesterday at least I managed to get some laps in, so I could get up to speed. Because, until yesterday, what we did in The Prologue, we only had issues with the car. So I think I’d two or three laps without issues. 

“It was impossible get used to the car, and to this track, because this track is a handful. So it was too much, the two things at once. Yesterday, i got a bunch of laps and now I can actually work with the team,” replied the Canadian.

Talking of the team, Villeneuve has been learning from his teammates, Tom Dillmann and Esteban Guerrieri.

“They have a lot more experience with the car, because they drove it all last year, even though the car is a bit different now. For now, at least, it was easy for them to just get up at speed on the track and try to figure out the car out. But now, the three of us can work,” the 51-year-old concluded.

Esteban Muth has joined ByKolles as a test and reserve driver for the team’s Vanwall Vandervell 680 LMH car.

ByKolles, now known officially as ‘Floyd Vanwall Racing Team’, haven’t competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship since 2020, the last year of the LMP1 rules. In 2021 its car wasn’t ready, and in 2022 it had been mired in a legal dispute surrounding the use of the Vanwall name.

However, it was included on the WEC 2023 season entry list, released last week, with three drivers listed — Tom Dillmann, Esteban Guerrieri, and Jacques Villenueve, the 1997 F1 World Champion and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner.

Muth, then, will be the first choice driver if any of those three are unable to race. He’s probably most well known for racing in the DTM in 2021 and 2022, initially for the T3 Lamborghini squad, where he achieved nine points finishes in his rookie year, and latterly for the Walkenhorst team, driving a BMW. However, his 2022 season was cut short as he needed surgery, sidelining him for a few months.

The Belgian-German drove the Vanwall LMH last year, and has now been signed by the team in an official role.