**Genesis Magma Racing Launched in Dubai, UAE**
The high-performance brand of Hyundai Motor Company, Genesis, is joining motorsports. Genesis, previously focused more on luxury than driving performance, is emphasizing quality that rivals German brands by participating in endurance races.
On the 4th of the local time, Genesis held a ‘Genesis Motorsports Premiere Event’ at the Armani Hotel in Dubai, UAE, attended by key stakeholders including Luc Donckerwolke, Hyundai Motor Group’s Chief Design Officer (CDO) and Chief Creative Officer (CCO), Executive VP Min-kyu Song, Head of Genesis Business Division, and Cyril Abiteboul, CEO of Hyundai Motorsport Corporation, to officially announce their participation in motorsports.
At the event, Genesis unveiled its plans for participating in motorsports focused on endurance racing and introduced the racing team ‘Genesis Magma Racing’ for the first time globally. Alongside this, they revealed the design of the ‘GMR-001 hypercar,’ which embodies Genesis’s high-performance technology and aesthetic identity.
The endurance races that Genesis plans to participate in are known for demanding superior vehicle performance, combining speed and durability, as well as requiring drivers’ flexible driving skills and advanced strategy, making it one of the most prestigious and challenging competitions in motorsports.
Currently, notable endurance races include the World Endurance Championship (WEC) organized by the FIA and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (WTSCC) organized by IMSA.
Genesis plans to showcase its high-performance vehicle development skills by entering two cars in each of the major endurance championships, the World Endurance Championship in 2026 and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2027.
Genesis aims to enter with a prototype based on the ‘Le Mans Daytona Hybrid (LMDh),’ which is the top-tier hypercar class. The regulations for LMDh, created jointly by FIA and IMSA, make the vehicles eligible to compete in both WEC and WTSCC.
Genesis is collaborating with the world-renowned race car manufacturer Oreca for the development of its LMDh-based prototype, striving to create more competitive vehicles.
The racing team ‘Genesis Magma Racing,’ was also unveiled on this day. The team name encapsulates Genesis’s powerful belief and commitment to racing, featuring a logo inspired by the Korean word ‘magma,’ which is geometrically expressed to convey Korean sentiment. The drivers are André Lotterer and Luis Felipe Derani.
André Lotterer has claimed victory in 84 races and achieved 166 podium finishes in his career, while Luis Felipe Derani is celebrated for his exceptional skills, having won both the Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours in 2016.
Cyril Abiteboul, managing director of Hyundai Motorsport Corporation and general director of Genesis Magma Racing, stated, “Genesis’s entry into motorsports is a historic and exciting challenge. We will leverage Hyundai Motorsport’s years of winning experience and expertise to develop the best competitive edge.”
Luc Donckerwolke expressed, “Genesis’s move into motorsports is a natural evolution for the brand. The necessity to constantly transcend limits in motorsports aligns perfectly with the values of Genesis as a bold and progressive brand, making the future we envision together highly promising.”
Additionally, at the event, Genesis exhibited a 1:2 scale model of the GMR-001 hypercar alongside five concept models: the GV80 Coupe Concept, the G80 Electrified Magma Concept, the GV60 Magma Concept, the X Gran Berlinneta Concept, and the X Gran Racer Concept, showcasing the brand’s direction in high-performance vehicle design.