This is the Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar, and it'll race at Le Mans

Genesis is going racing. Proper racing. Because the Genesis GMR-001 is, as you can probably guess, a Le Mans hypercar. From 2026 Genesis Magma Racing (remember those hot orange Magma concepts?) will field two cars in WEC, before expanding out into the US IMSA series the following year.

Backed by Hyundai Motorsport, Genesis has lined up a series of heavy-hitters to manage its new endurance racing program. Ex-Renault F1 boss (and Drive to Survive protagonist) Cyril Abiteboul will be team principal, the driver line-up includes three-time Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer and the car will be run by the vastly experienced ORECA Motorsport outfit from its base at Paul Ricard in France.

Don’t expect Genesis’ endurance racing entry to be as flaky as Lamborghini’s. If its WRC rallying programme is anything to go by Hyundai Motorsport gets into things for the long haul and invests heavily. After over a decade of trying it finally won the WRC drivers’ championship with Thierry Neuville for the first time this year.

Although it’ll be built to LMDh regulations, Genesis is keeping the GMR-001's hybrid powertrain under wraps for the time being, though Abiteboul did confirm the engine is a turbocharged V8 based on the company's WRC motor. The current rules enforce rear-drive and a total system output of 698bhp, with electric contributing a mere 67bhp of that. There’s a 1,030kg minimum weight.

Despite Lambo’s exit the series is still very well populated with Porsche, Toyota, Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, Aston Martin, BMW and Alpine all confirmed for next year, when FIA rules insist each manufacturer enters two cars, rather than one.

We’re not overly surprised about Hyundai Motorsport's move into endurance racing. This is just a predictable natural progression isn’t it? Genesis is Hyundai’s luxury arm, so it gets to play with premier league racing cars, while Hyundai busies itself with grittier WRC and TCR touring car racing. But just how ambitious is Hyundai? Could this be a stepping stone to an eventual F1 bid?

That’s looking much further ahead. The LMDh programme itself doesn’t start until 2026, so to blood the team Genesis Magma Racing will run an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series next year. A suitably starry line-up includes ex-Williams F1 driver Logan Sargeant and three-time W-Series champion Jamie Chadwick.

Abiteboul, who’s not only GMR team principal, but also president of Hyundai Motorsport, channelled his inner reality TV persona with talk of “elevating our circuit racing expertise to a whole new level". He’s not wrong. The balance of performance regulations should mean Genesis don't lag behind at the start, but they also purposefully make it difficult to find a competitive advantage. Tricky, when you’re up against the likes of Ferrari and Porsche. Meanwhile lead driver Lotterer declared himself “beyond thrilled and thankful” to be involved in the LMDh project. Spot the man who recently spent six years in Formula E.

The racing program will ultimately be tied together (at least on a marketing level) with Genesis’ forthcoming Magma road car department, in a bid to “redefine high-performance luxury”. We’ll accept that at face value when the race engineers permit face recognition entry and quilted leather upholstery. Any other features you’re keen to see on the GMR-001?