Genesis to go from scale model to Le Mans in 18 months

• Genesis’ LMDh race car currently only exists as a half-scale model
• To speed up development, Genesis will build a V-8 from two 4-cylinder engines from Hyundai’s World Rally Championship program
• Six-time Le Mans winner Jacky Ickx is serving as an advisor for the program

Genesis in December launched its own motorsports division, Genesis Magma Racing (GMR), and confirmed plans to enter the premier Hypercar and GTP classes of the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship with a newly developed LMDh race car, the GMR-001 Hypercar.

Genesis said at the time that it aims to have the GMR-001 Hypercar ready in time for the 2026 season of the World Endurance Championship, whose premier event is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. An entry in the SportsCar Championship is slated to follow in 2027.

That’s a tight schedule, as it means Genesis only has 18 months to prepare for Le Mans, which is typically run in June. Incredibly, very little development work has been completed for the project. Road & Track reported on Thursday that Genesis only has a half-scale model of the GMR-001 Hypercar, which it revealed earlier this month.

However, due to LMDh rules requiring race cars to use chassis from sanctioned suppliers, Genesis already has a good head start. It has decided to use a chassis from Oreca, the same chassis used by Acura and Alpine. Acura has already notched up some significant wins with the chassis in the SportsCar Championship.

And to accelerate development, some compromises will be made with the powertrain, Cyril Abiteboul, the former Caterham and Renault Formula 1 team manager serving as team principal for GMR, told Road & Track. Instead of tuning a powertrain from the Genesis portfolio, Genesis will fuse two inline-4 engines from Hyundai’s successful World Rally Championship program to form a V-8.

Despite the tight deadline, Genesis won’t partner with an established racing team for the program. Toyota is currently the only rival team without a partner to have won a race in the current era of top-level endurance racing.

The first confirmed drivers for Genesis’ program are Le Mans winner and current World Endurance Drivers’ Champion André Lotterer, as well as Pipo Derani. Both drivers will assist with the car’s development through 2025 and beyond, alongside Jacky Ickx, a six-time Le Mans winner who joined Genesis as a brand ambassador in February. The first track shakedown is planned for mid-2025.

For additional drivers, Genesis has teamed up with French racing team IDEC Sport to establish a driver development program. The program will begin next year with an LMP2 entry in the European Le Mans Series. America’s Logan Sargeant, who was recently dropped from the Williams F1 team, will be one of the first drivers in the program, alongside Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert.