Genesis Magma Racing is gearing up for a historic moment as it prepares to debut its maiden World Endurance Championship (WEC) programme at the 6 Hours of Imola (17–19 April, 2026). The South Korean luxury marque, part of the Hyundai Motor Group, will officially enter the global endurance racing stage with its striking GMR-001 Hypercar.
The #17 entry will feature an experienced driver line-up, including two-time world champion André Lotterer, IMSA title-winner Pipo Derani and newcomer Mathys Jaubert. Together, they represent a blend of proven success and fresh talent as the team embarks on its ambitious journey.
Dual livery decision reflects fan engagement
Earlier this week, Genesis unveiled the GMR-001 with a bold ‘Liquid Metal’ design. However, the sister #19 car will carry a contrasting look, following a unique design decision shaped partly by fan feedback.
Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group President and Chief Creative Officer, explained the process behind the choice: “While working on options and solutions for the final livery, we landed with two strong candidates during our last test of 2025. One black car with Liquid Metal Hangeul lettering, and one Liquid Metal car with black graphics.
“This inverted solution instantly gave us a difficult decision to make, but we looked at the feedback online and quickly realised that by choosing just one livery, we would have disappointed a good portion of our fans.”
As a result, Genesis will run both designs, underlining its commitment to creativity and audience connection from the outset.
Building the Genesis brand through racing
Meanwhile, driver Paul-Loup Chatin, who joined the programme in November after competing with Alpine in the FIA World Endurance Championship, emphasised the broader significance of the project.
“I’m really looking forward to building the reputation of the Genesis brand,” enthused the 34-year-old Frenchman. “That’s one of the goals for Genesis Magma Racing, and if we are good on-track then that will be good for the brand. It will be super-cool to see the benefit of what we do on-track in the wider market.
“At the moment, we don’t know where we are exactly in terms of performance compared to the other teams. It would not be realistic to say we’ll be fast and reliable straightaway, but we want to progress during the season. What I don’t want to see is a decent first race and a decent last race – I’d prefer to have a difficult race at Imola and then a good Bahrain weekend at the end of the year.”
Genesis Magma Racing WEC drivers emphasise development and consistency for 2026
Similarly, teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Daniel Juncadella share a measured outlook as the team prepares for its first campaign. Jaminet, who previously enjoyed success as a Porsche factory driver, pointed to the importance of continuous improvement.
“The GMR-001 is very different from the Porsche I’ve driven before,” commented Jaminet. “There are definitely some strengths – even if we are still very early in the programme – while there are also some weaker points, which is where I try to bring my development experience to the engineers, in our efforts to create a winning race car.
“I think a realistic target is progression – that the car gets reliable over the year, that we start to gain performance and slowly catch up to the front and that we really see progress from race one to race number eight.”
Juncadella, stepping up from the LMGT3 category, echoed that sentiment while stressing the importance of controlling key variables.
“There are many different things that play into a result that we cannot control,” added Spain’s Juncadella, whose career has additionally comprised single-seater success in FIA Formula 3 and the Macau Grand Prix. “We need to focus on what we can control, which is why we’ve worked during testing on being better every day on the aspects that gain you performance – whether that is reliability, driveability or lap time.
“It could be, at the end of the season, we look back and even if we haven’t scored a good result, we can say, ‘ok, here we had a chance but something happened’. If you give yourself opportunities to score big results, that’s already something you can be proud of. If we’re in a position to fight for a strong result in our first year, I think we can be satisfied.”
A season focused on progress
Ultimately, Genesis Magma Racing enters its debut season with clear priorities. Rather than chasing instant glory, the team aims to build reliability, refine performance and steadily close the gap to established competitors.
As Imola approaches, expectations remain grounded. Nevertheless, the combination of experienced drivers, innovative design choices and a long-term vision suggests that Genesis is laying strong foundations for future success in endurance racing.
