The ABT Sportsline motorsport enthusiasts have a new home: In good time for the season, the ABT athletes moved into a new and ultra-modern motorsport center. This is right next to the ABT headquarters in Kempten. On an area of 2.400 square meters, more than 50 employees are now preparing the four Audi RS5 DTMs for the DTM and promoting their involvement in FIA Formula E.
"Motorsport is our great passion and has been an extremely high priority in the company for decades," says Managing Director Hans-Jürgen Abt. "With the new building complex we have now created perfect conditions for the challenges in the future. Our team feels good, has optimal working conditions and plenty of room for new ideas. "
The new center impresses from outside and inside: Edged, matt black steel sheet and red, high-gloss aluminum determine the outer lining of the hallowed halls. "In the development of the building, the term 'manufactory' played a central role," says Marco Hippmann from the Stuttgart-based architecture firm Hippmann Hardegger. As project manager in Kempten, Harald Seyband was responsible for the short construction period of just ten months. "The goal was to create a highly functional building that would demonstrate from the outside that ABT a high-tech companyis. This is underlined by the reduced to the essentials red-black paneling. "
Inside, 2.400 employees find a small motorsport paradise: generous workspaces, modern offices, dedicated carbon and transmission workshops, a laundry hall, state-of-the-art equipment, a spacious warehouse and an on-site gym. There are five semitrailers in the connected truck hall, which can now be loaded and unloaded regardless of the weather. Even the daily training of the DTM pit stops can be completed in the hall.
As Audi Sport Team Abt Sportsline, the team uses the racing cars of Mattias Ekström, Miguel Molina, Edoardo Mortara and Adrien Tambay in the DTM. ABT will also start with the former Formula 1 driver Lucas di Grassi and youngster Daniel Abt in the new FIA Formula E, which will premiere in September. As an exclusive partner of Volkswagen, ABT prepares all vehicles for the Scirocco R-Cup, which will be held on the DTM weekends.