Gensis launches motorsport team to race in high-performance segment

Reigning WEC champion André Lotterer, four-time Sebring 12 Hour winner Luis 'Pipo' Derani join the Genesis Magma Racing team

The GMR-001 Hypercar (Courtesy of Genesis)

Jin-Won Kim 2

2024-12-05 17:04:49 jin1@hankyung.com

Electric vehicles

Hyundai Motor Co.'s premium brand Genesis on Wednesday launched a racing team and unveiled a motorsports prototype to raise its presence in the global luxury high-performance car market.

The brand said Genesis Magma Racing plans to compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2026 and the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2027 to showcase its engineering expertise and durability capability.

“This entry into motorsports is a natural evolution for Genesis,” said Genesis Chief Executive Officer Luc Donckerwolke in a statement. “As we look to push the boundaries of our brand, motorsports allows us to bring the spirit of hyperspeed.”

Hyundai earlier this year introduced the Genesis GV60 Magma Concept, a high-performance version of its electric crossover to boost the premium brand with performance models and more luxury features to court prestigious global carmakers such as Mercedes-Benz AG. The leading South Korean automaker is scheduled to produce the model in the third quarter of 2025 in South Korea.

LE MANS DAYTONA HYBRID

Genesis plans to develop a model based on the Le Mans Daytona hybrid (LMDh), a new motorsports prototype class emphasizing fuel efficiency, sustainability and cost savings, for the races.

Reigning WEC champion André Lotterer and four-time Sebring 12 Hour winner Luis “Pipo” Derani are the first drivers named for the LMDh program, to take the wheel of the Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar unveiled on the day, Genesis said.

Ahead of its WEC debut in 2026, the team will collaborate with IDEC Sport to field a Le Mans Prototype2 (LMP2) entry in the European Le Mans Series next year, Genesis said.

The GMR-001 is designed to maximize performance for motorsports, according to Genesis.

Accurately styled with Genesis’ signature two-line lighting, the GMR-001 Hypercar projects a confident stance, while sleek, horizontal lights wrap around the front and rear, emphasizing width and aerodynamic purpose, Genesis said.

Smoothly contoured surfaces guide airflow across the body, optimizing aerodynamic efficiency, it added.

“The GMR-001 Hypercar and our Magma models represent a fusion of Genesis’ performance ambitions with our design-driven DNA," said Donckerwolke. “We are entering a new chapter, where speed meets elegance.”

Write to Jin-Won Kim at jin1@hankyung.com

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.