Genesis Hypercar readies testing program

Genesis Magma Racing's first GMR-001 Hypercar test chassis is almost ready to hit the track, following the installation and fire-up of its twin-turbo V8 earlier this month in the south of France.

Work on building the GMR-001 Hypercar test chassis began immediately after the Le Mans 24 Hours last month, in which Genesis took an active part, competing in LMP2 with IDEC Sport and showing off its forthcoming Hypercar to the public in the fan village.

The fire-up took place at ORECA’s workshop, located near the site of Genesis Magma Racing’s new Hypercar base and Circuit Paul Ricard. The initial build work was completed by ORECA staff, with mechanics and engineers from Genesis Magma Racing involved at key stages.

“In a project like this, you have certain dates circled and this was one of them,” said team principal, Cyril Abiteboul. “The car fire-up was the GMR-001 Hypercar coming to life – a huge step in the story of Genesis Magma Racing. To reach this point on schedule is already a huge achievement and a perfect way to start the next stage of the development process.”

In addition to running the engine through its rev range in each of the seven gears in the transmission, engineers were also able to test the car’s hybrid system, charging the batteries from the engine and then directing the energy to the rear driveshafts.

Work on the engine began in June 2024 with Hyundai Motorsport’s Powertrain Department starting work on the design, which is derived from the motor in the team’s championship-winning FIA World Rally Championship entries. The engine was first successfully fired up in February.

Since then, the company’s engineers have subjected the engine and transmission to months of testing on various dynos to validate the simulations of performance and efficiency. The successful integration of the engine into the first GMR-001 test chassis now opens the way to the next stage of testing and development work, with the first track running planned for the end of August.

Close cooperation between Genesis Magma Racing and the team’s chassis partner, ORECA, has been central throughout the car build and fire-up process. The two groups have been working in tandem to meet the tight deadlines ahead of homologation at the end of the year and the car's FIA WEC race debut in 2026.

“The car build has been about bringing everything together – all the expertise we have within Genesis Magma Racing and at ORECA,” Genesis Magma Racing Technical Director FX Demaison said. “It’s now when we can start physically connecting all the different strands of development work that we’ve been following for the last year with our powertrain and design teams. The successful GMR-001 fire-up is confirmation of our work so far, but also the start of the next stage of the development that comes with testing.”

Once the first chassis is fully built and begins track testing, ORECA and Genesis staff will proceed with additional chassis builds.