Genesis GMR-001 revealed as brand’s Le Mans contender for 2026

Genesis has revealed the GMR-001 Hypercar, the top-class racer with which it will compete for glory in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The first car that will race under the Genesis Magma Racing name, it will compete in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the IMSA Sportscar Championship from 2026 under the LMDh ruleset.

It’s set to use a chassis supplied by French firm Oreca, as well as the hybrid system made by Bosch, WAE and Xtrac that is common to all LMDh hypercars.

Genesis has yet to announce which engine it will use, but rivals typically field V6s (Alpine, Ferrari, Peugeot and Toyota) and V8s (BMW, Cadillac and Porsche) in various configurations. Aston Martin will even use a V12.

The Korean brand said it had designed the GMR-001 so it “projects a confident stance on track”, borrowing cues such as the Parabolic Line, a crease running along the car’s shoulder line, from its road-going models.

“The GMR-001 Hypercar and our Magma [performance cars] represent a fusion of Genesis’s performance ambitions with our design-driven DNA,” said creative chief Luc Donckerwolke. 

As well as unveiling the racer, Genesis named recently crowned WEC champion André Lotterer and Pipo Derani as its first drivers.

Lotterer, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, joins from Porsche, while Derani arrives from Action Express Racing, which fields a Cadillac in the IMSA series.