Ahead of the start of the 2026 WEC at Imola, Genesis Magma Racing unveiled the final livery of the GMR-001 at Le Castellet, the LMDh with which the Korean manufacturer will become the eighth on the Hypercar grid. The design revolves around the word "Magma" written in Hangul (마그마), the Korean alphabet, a graphic element that gained so much weight during the development process that it was ultimately applied to the car, the garage, the trackside structures, and the uniforms of the entire team.

A more restrained scheme than expected

In previous demonstrations of the GMR-001 during the development phase, the car appeared in a predominantly orange scheme that fueled expectations of a livery along those lines, but the final version reserved the Magma color as an accent within a more restrained design, likely reflecting Genesis' positioning as a premium luxury manufacturer within Hyundai Motor Group.

Photo By Genesis

Luc Donckerwolke, president and chief creative officer of the group, explained that the visual identity took shape over several months, with Hangul gradually becoming the dominant graphic element of the program. The consonants of the Korean word gave rise to the team's geometric logo, which appears in Magma color on the engine cover of both cars. "We wanted to honor our roots and heritage by using the word Magma written in Hangul," said Donckerwolke. "This element became such a strong graphic identifier that we decided to extend it to the GMR-001, the garage, the structures, and the uniforms."

The bodywork also features the Two-Line headlights that identify Genesis road cars, the South Korean flag, and Genesis's wing logo on the nose. Each element reinforces the connection between the race car and the identity of a manufacturer arriving in the WEC with the intention that what happens on track will feed its commercial image.

500 days to build a complete team

Genesis Magma Racing was announced on December 4, 2024, and what the team built in the following months goes far beyond a car and a color scheme. The operation operates from three bases in France and Germany, with a multinational team of just over 70 people assembled specifically for this project. Cyril Abiteboul, team principal, explained that building everything internally rather than subcontracting the operation to an existing team was deliberate, because Genesis wants the competition experience to feed directly into the manufacturer, without intermediaries.

Photo By Genesis

"This is the beginning of a long-term project for Genesis Magma Racing, and we wanted to start with our own soul, skills, and people," said Abiteboul. Most of the personnel who will work at the events already had their first joint operational test in Barcelona at the end of 2025, where the team rehearsed the procedures it will use during the season.

The drivers speak before Imola

The WEC pre-season Prologue will take place on April 14th at Imola, five days before the season-opening race, which became the championship's opener after the Qatar round was moved from March to October.

Photo By Genesis

André Lotterer, with three Le Mans victories and the 2024 WEC Hypercar championship on his resume, admitted the car has run well in testing but that a real race weekend brings variables that no test can fully replicate. Mathieu Jaminet, who developed the Porsche 963 for two seasons before joining the Genesis project, noted that the GMR-001 feels very different to drive despite sharing LMDh regulations, and that his job now is to channel that prior experience toward the engineers to close the areas where the car still needs improvement.

Pipo Derani, the 2023 IMSA GTP champion, framed the season as a ladder of progressive goals where each race should be a step forward from the previous one. Paul-Loup Chatin said he would rather have problems at Imola and arrive strong at Bahrain for the season finale, because that would mean the team truly progressed throughout the year. Mathys Jaubert, arriving in Hypercar with recent experience in the European Le Mans Series LMP2, set himself the personal goal of being the best rookie in the championship.

Chief engineer Justin Taylor laid out the roadmap in stages: starting with clean races without incidents, then appearances in Hyperpole and finishes on the lead lap, and eventually fights for the top five based on genuine pace.

Photo By Genesis

Genesis joins Ferrari, Toyota, Cadillac, BMW, Alpine, Peugeot, and Aston Martin in an eight-round season that will extend into November. With operations established across three bases in France and Germany and a multi-month test program that included night running and sessions in the rain at representative circuits on the calendar, Abiteboul's team arrives at Imola with its preparation complete.