Following the initial design of the Gigawave hospitality suite in 2009, WRT Racing contacted WH Bence about the possibility of designed and building a similar version for them for the FIA GT Series. The Belgian race team had specific goals and requirements for their hospitality suite as they were the new Audi R8 works team for 2010.
Following rigorous design meetings, the project got under way in October 2010, when we started the manufacture of both a hospitality suite and mobile race centre which you can see in the attached photographs. The interior design element of the interiors for both the hospitality and race facility were crucial for WRT to provide an excellent and attractive working environment for both staff and possible guests. The hospitality suite was designed to house 36 people for lunch, including a buffet serving trolley, kitchen facility and office to house approximately eight people.
One of the major design criteria for the team was that the vehicle had to be able to be transported all in one unit. This was one of the most difficult challenges we faced during this project, as the amount of equipment required to be able to manage this meant that it was a very tight squeeze! By designing all of the furniture and ancillary equipment to be fitted in the available pod storage space in bespoke polypropylene cabinets, we were able to house all of the necessary equipment required for the build, and break down of the hospitality and race facility in just two trailers.
The vehicle was also designed to be completely self-sustainable, providing an on-board power generation system to provide the necessary power for the kitchen, hospitality area and office. In addition to the power systems we also offered the WRT race team the possibility of powering the race trailer from the main hospitality suite. This meant that no mains facility was required to run any of the on-board equipment.
The hospitality suite was designed with a state of the art audio •visual system with a rack mounted satellite controller, track feed enhancer and DVD/video system. This meant that direct track feed could be piped into the hospitality area for lunch, whilst being able to watch the racing on TV. By also providing the track feed to the office area and race facility meant that team could congregate to watch how the car was running during the race and make any changes that may be required for the next race.
The race facility also offered excellent changing facilities with an in-built shower and bathroom facility. In addition to this, eight digitally coded lockers were provided in the lower locker space, providing each member of the team with their own individual locker for the race weekend. This area led into the entrance way and up to the offices in the race facility, which was designed with a double slide-out pod system, expanding the interior office space to the required level. By increasing the office space, we were able to include a greater number of operators and staff in this area, optimising the space available to the team. The race facility was also designed to house track feed and network information, which can be sent to any part of the vehicle during the race weekend when the vehicle is set up.
The exterior of the vehicle was finished in a high gloss two pack paint finish and designed to house a 2.5 tonne CarCo tail lift to offer access to both the lower and upper levels of the race facility, with an additional access door through the centre of the lift. The vehicle was also fitted with a four point hydraulic levelling system, which was controlled by a remote control unit. This allowed the operator to walk round and inspect the legs as they were being deployed to watch for any obstructions.
The unit was successfully delivered to Belgium for the race team to use at the beginning of 2010.
