Longstanding Belgian GT and prototype outfit Team WRT has opened the doors of its huge new state-of-the-art facility in Bierset, near Liège, this evening with a special inauguration event.
The new building, located in the important industrial and logistics hub of Bierset near Liège Airport, has been built in little over a year and features 20,475 sqm of working and manufacturing space.
It houses 140 staff members and all of WRT’s racing and manufacturing activities, which were previously spread over six locations.
The team’s global GT3 and Hypercar racing efforts are placed front and centre, within a massive race shop lined with 14 full service bays. Each is occupied by either an M4 GT3 or one of four M Hybrid V8 Hypercars on site and there is also a dedicated space for pit stop preparation.
The whole race shop is overseen by joint CEO Vincent Vosse’s eyrie-like office.
Elsewhere on site at the five storey facility (including the undercroft/basement) are assembly shops for a variety of WRT engineering contracts.
These include build of the Toyota Supra GT4, TCR and rally machines for Stellantis (Citroen Rally2) and Hyundai (TCR and Rally2). Add to that the areas for the Fun Cup cars, of which over 570 have been delivered.
In total WRT has built/assembled c.120 competition cars per year since 2017 and is approaching 1000 cars total. Going forward the new facility offers the opportunity for expansion of production capacity.
In total the new building replaces six other sites where race preparation, logistics and construction was based, plus the corporate HQ of the Weerts Group that is due to occupy the top two floors imminently.
W Racing Team co-CEOs Kathleen Schurmans and Vincent Vosse were on hand for the grand opening, together with Yves Weerts, CEO of the Weerts Group and around 300 guests.
Among them, Pierre-Yves Jeholet, vice president of the Government of Wallonia, Maurice Mottard, the mayor of Grâce-Hollogne, Pierre Fillon, president of the ACO, François Cornélis, president of the RACB, and Belgian racing legend Jacky Ickx were in attendance.
“Today we materialise a dream and make a great leap into the future,” Vincent Vosse commented. “Reuniting all the WRT motorsport activities in one single location is something that Yves Weerts and I had in mind for a long time, as we grew constantly over our 15 years of existence, and now it’s a reality.
“The advantages of having everything and everybody in a single location are immense: we can interact and react better and faster, and like in racing, innovating and improving are crucial. Regarding racing, we are happy with the great start of the season that we have enjoyed so far together with our great partner BMW, with victories in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bathurst, and Paul Ricard in GT3 racing and podiums in the FIA WEC.
“But we cannot stop working hard, progressing, and fighting for a second. As you know, a win on Sunday is almost forgotten on Monday morning because you need to focus on the next race, and success only adds more pressure.”
The new building has been designed to meet the most rigorous sustainability standards. 70 per cent of the energy required to run the building will be green, renewable (solar and eolic), and produced in-house by the Weerts Group, while the new facility will be able to store up to 60,000 m3 of rainwater, and the waste management plan foresees a recycling rate of over 95%.
Other features include high-tech insulation, LED lighting with smart controls, and the use of low-impact materials. The focus has also been put on workforce wellbeing, with the building fitted with ergonomic working spaces and offering a fitness centre as well as EV recharging stations.
Kathleen Schurmans added: “This new building reflects our drive for innovation and winning, not only on the racing tracks of the world. We have a long-standing commitment to the three pillars of ESG: environment, social, and governance.
“This new building allows not only to have all our racing and manufacturing activities in one single location, and to bring our commitment to sustainability many steps forward, but also offers our staff a working environment where they can develop at best and feel happy.
“We have taken up the challenge to be leaders in making motorsport more sustainable with the same passion and determination with which we pursue victory in racing.”
Featured image courtesy of WRT
