Genesis Magma Racing has completed its first full test with the GMR-001 LMDh Hypercar, taking another major step towards its FIA World Endurance Championship debut in 2026.
The five-day program in late August at Circuit Paul Ricard in France had factory drivers André Lotterer and Pipo Derani sharing driving duties. It marked the start of an extensive development campaign for the car, which is powered by a newly developed 3.2-liter twin-turbo V8 hybrid engine.
Initial running focused on validating the car’s mechanical and electrical systems, particularly the complex software that manages the powertrain.
“We had a program that we were able to follow, so that’s very promising for the whole team,” said technical director FX Demaison. “At the moment, we’re purely focused on software, especially in the powertrain. It’s a hybrid car with many features that we need to manage properly.”
The decision to begin testing at Paul Ricard was a practical one, with the track located close to both Genesis Magma Racing’s new base for the WEC program and chassis partner ORECA’s state of the art headquarters. That proximity allowed engineers from both sides to collaborate closely on-site and back at their workshops between test days.
Although the priority was system checks, the team also began assessing the GMR-001’s handling balance. According to chief engineer Justin Taylor, performance discussions are already beginning sooner than expected.
“We’re getting to the point already where we are talking about the performance of the car, which I didn’t honestly expect to be,” he admitted. “The drivers are giving us the feedback we need on all the systems and on the side, they’re already looking at how to make the GMR-001 Hypercar fast.”
Lotterer was encouraged by the car’s feel on track at this early stage.
“The GMR-001 Hypercar is obviously well born – the feedback is very natural, instinctive and it’s fun to drive, but we are still working on everything,” he said.
Derani added: “It’s always an unknown when you jump into a new car. You have high expectations, but with the GMR-001 we have a good base to start working from.”
As expected with an all-new car, minor technical issues cropped up during the early runs, but were quickly addressed thanks to the close collaboration between the Genesis Magma Racing and ORECA engineering teams.
“It’s normal to have issues,” said Demaison. “This is why you go testing. We’re here to see as many problems as possible and to be able to fix them as quickly as possible.”
The next stages of the testing program will focus on reliability over race distance, optimizing performance and fine-tuning operational procedures in preparation for Genesis’ planned two-car entry in the 2026 FIA WEC season and expansion into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2027.
