Genesis Magma Racing achieved its best result of the season at the Lone Star Le Mans on the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, and the team reported progress in reliability and race pace as it continues its debut World Endurance Championship campaign that began after the program launch in Dubai.
The result matters because it marked a measurable step in development for a program conceived to contest the 24 Hours and to translate endurance innovations into road cars such as the GV60 Magma introduced in the US in late July 2026. The weekend in Austin reinforced the project’s trajectory from its 2016 G60 origins to a factory-backed effort aiming at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and potential expansion to IMSA in 2028.
Program origins, car and early season milestones
Genesis launched the Magma Racing effort in Dubai 500 days before its World Endurance Championship debut, fielding the GMR-001 chassis built on an LMDh platform by ORECA and powered by a twin-turbo V8 derived from Hyundai rally hardware. The program’s roots trace back to the introduction of the G60 in 2016 and team principal Cyril Abiteboul framed the campaign with the Korean maxim “Anything is Possible” as a guiding ethos. The GMR-001 first ran competitively at Imola in April and scored its first WEC points at Spa before completing the Le Mans endurance test early in the season despite the postponed season-opener in Qatar.
Austin result and team perspectives
At the Circuit of the Americas the team recorded a seventh-place finish that was described internally as the best of the year. Sporting Director Gabriele Tarquini said: “It’s our best finish of the year, and we are happy. We will continue to work on the details to take another step forward in the next races.” Chief Engineer Justin Taylor added: “We got both cars to finish on the lead lap. That was a big goal for us. We got one of the cars in the top 10. Neither car saw the garage with a technical issue, not only in the race, but in any of the practice sessions.” Those statements were cited by the team as evidence of improved reliability and race execution, with drivers reporting that strategic decisions, traffic management and temperature control in the cockpit remained areas for refinement.
Driver comments and race dynamics
The driver cohort highlighted the eventful nature of the Lone Star Le Mans and the learning curve still in evidence for a rookie factory program. André Lotterer reflected on recovery through the race: “It’s more points, and our best result so far this year in seventh. We managed to recover well from the early race mishaps.” Mathys Jaubert described physical strains that influenced stint performance: “It was not the easiest final stint. I was fighting with very experienced guys and I was struggling because it was very, very warm in the cockpit.” Pipo Derani summarised the race tempo and incidents: “We were at the top, we were at the bottom, and then here we are, finishing P7. Considering that it’s our first year, I think we should be proud of what we achieved today.” Teammates also identified strategy and restarts as specific improvement areas, with Dani Juncadella urging systematic analysis of restarts and traffic handling and Paul-Loup Chatin noting that a late strategic error cost a potential double top-ten for the sister cars: “These things can happen, but we need to learn from it.”
Road-car influence, design concepts and future plans
Genesis maintained that learnings from the WEC program would flow into production models. The brand has already showcased performance trickle-down in the GV60 Magma and in concept vehicles such as the Magma GT Concept and the X Gran Berlinetta Concept born from the Vision Gran Turismo program and presented at Mount Panorama in Bathurst. The X Gran Berlinetta features a hybrid powertrain rated at 1,086 CV and 1,336 Nm of torque and expresses the company’s Athletic Elegance design language. The Magma GT Concept received a Silver Award at the 2026 IDEA program and the automaker said the styling and aero work were informed by endurance development.
Looking ahead, the team has stated its immediate technical focus is to continue development in WEC through 2027 with an eye on potential IMSA WeatherTech Championship participation in 2028 contingent on partnership opportunities and sustained performance gains. The campaign continues to invoke sports-car heritage through ambassador involvement such as Jackie Ickx, and to pursue the program’s stated short-term objective of contesting and ultimately winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Ultimo aggiornamento: 8 September 2026
