Genesis completes first shakedown of new hypercar
Genesis Magma Racing has reached another key milestone on the road to its FIA WEC Hypercar debut in 2026. The Korean brand has taken delivery of its first test chassis from its chassis partner ORECA and completed a successful first shakedown.
The car pictured in bare carbon is the first of three development cars for the project. It was completed in early August before being handed over to the team at its newly completed facility in the south of France, a stone's throw from Circuit Paul Ricard. It will form part of GMR's planned testing and homologation program ahead of the team's FIA WEC debut in 2026 and IMSA debut in 2027 with its turbo-V8 powered LMDh prototype.
“We are at a time, where we seem to be passing milestones every day, but this is exactly what we must be doing,” said Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul. “After planning for and talking about these moments for the last eight months, to be able to see a finished car running exactly as we planned is incredibly exciting.
“We are also starting the process of moving into the new Genesis Magma Racing facility at Le Castellet. The start of testing is the beginning of bringing the different streams of work together – the design and development of the chassis, the design and development of the engine, equipping a workshop and building the team.”
Following the installation of the engine, hybrid system and gearbox, and a successful fire-up last month, ORECA mechanics completed the build before delivering the car to the team’s engineers, who will now lead the testing programme. ORECA will remain involved in the long-term development of the GMR-001, in addition to its work with Ford to develop its forthcoming LMDh car, which is set to make its WEC debut in 2027.
Following the installation of the engine, hybrid system and gearbox, and a successful fire-up last month, ORECA mechanics completed the build before delivering the car to the team’s engineers, who will now lead the testing programme. ORECA will remain involved in the long-term development of the GMR-001, in addition to its work with Ford to develop its forthcoming LMDh car, which is set to make its WEC debut in 2027.
Genesis factory drivers André Lotterer (pictured above) and Pipo Derani, who will take part in the initial tests, have undertaken simulator sessions to calibrate the virtual model of the GMR-001 and establish a baseline setup. Both drivers sampled the car for the first time during the shakedown, which was used to check mechanical and electrical systems.
After the first run, Genesis Magma Racing will embark on an extensive European testing schedule, with data from each outing analysed at the team’s facility and further refined through continued simulator work.
“Every bit of running we do with the GMR-001 Hypercar in 2025 is extremely valuable,” said technical director FX Demaison.
“The work in preparation that André and Pipo have done on the simulator and during the shakedown means that we have a good starting point for the first tests.
"Working with our chassis partners at ORECA throughout the testing and development, we can quickly take the data from each test, find a solution and validate it to be able to take full advantage of every moment.”
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