WRT Increasing GT Team Staff Count for Likely LMGT3 Effort

Team WRT is planning to increase its GT department staff count as it prepares for a likely program in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s new LMGT3 class next year.

The Belgian squad is expected to be given BMW’s pair of entries next season, in addition to its two-car Hypercar effort with the German manufacturer’s LMDh prototype.

WRT intends to remain in Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS next year, meaning that its current crop of GT staff will have at least 18 race events on its plate.

One of the GT operation’s management figures explained that plans are in motion to hire some more people in order to be prepared for the projected dual-series commitment.

“You will definitely need the mechanics responsible for the cars to be separate,” WRT co-sporting director Kurt Mollekens told Sportscar365.

“Can we mix the engineers? Yes, it is possible. But it’s going to be a challenge for them if they do. We have three people for two positions in each championship.

“So me, Elliot [Hoffet] and Max [Bonnefoy] will run the two championships between the three of us. In that regard, we are fine with what we have.

“In terms of engineers, we have enough to do it, but it’s their decision if they want to do a double program. It’s not something we will force them into because that will be very busy.

“The engineering front shouldn’t be a problem, but in terms of mechanics, you need a number one and number two per car. There, you can’t double up. You can mix the number three and four, but you can’t do it with the same mechanics.

“So for sure you need to increase your staff.”

WRT runs separate teams for GTs and prototypes, with the latter currently operating a WEC LMP2 program that will soon morph into the factory BMW Hypercar squad.

Mollekens estimated that around half a dozen additional mechanics will need to be brought into the GT side, while any extra engineers will depend on individual plans.

“It depends on what the engineers want to do,” he said.

“But we have a good group. If we need to hire engineers, we will need one or two maximum, not the same extent as we need mechanics.”

While WRT can start planning for a staff increase between this year and next, it remains to be seen how much backing it will get from BMW to operate the LMGT3 entries.

Mollekens suggested that the team could run the program without any financial contribution from Munich, considering LMGT3 is a Pro-Am class that includes Bronze and Silver drivers who usually bring money.

“It’s a very expensive championship because when you have eight rounds, five of which are flyaways,” he said.

“But there are a lot of Bronze and Silver drivers who have been in touch with us for that championship. So maybe we don’t need BMW to support.

“But at least they are interested themselves in getting involved to some extent. It will be nice to have those four cars all in the same colors.

“Having LMDh next door is creating synergies already. You’re not going to go with two hospitality units, so that’s going to have a cost effect on both of us.

“We have the contacts of Bronze and Silver drivers. We just need to know where they stand on budget, so we can advance on budgets for our customers.”

BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos told Sportscar365 that the manufacturer has not decided how much support it would be willing to give to its LMGT3 representative.

Additionally, the ‘BMW M Team’ banner will not be used for the LMGT3 entries because they are operated by a customer team that has purchased the cars.

“A lot of opportunities come up for teams, from sponsors and potential partners who want to be involved there,” said Roos.

“This [support from the factory] is then a bit dependent on that. As soon as factory drivers are involved, it’s factory-supported.

“Then, we have to see how big the involvement has to be, but we are too far away to define [that].”

Number of Cars in GTWC Europe Undecided

WRT currently runs four BMW M4 GT3s in GTWC Europe Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup, although it is unclear how an additional LMGT3 program would impact those numbers.

“At the moment, there is no clash between GT World Challenge and WEC which, I think, is agreed between the two championships,” said team principal Vincent Vosse.

“We are working on it, which is politically right to say.

“The goal is to stay in GT World Challenge, as we did since 2010 when it was FIA GT3. Since then, we are committed to SRO championship.

“It depends, but some years we run five cars, some years we run three or four cars. Now, we have four cars in the championship.

“Maybe next year we go down to three cars or stay at four. I don’t know. It’s not something which is decided.”