The Car That Amazed Ferrari... Genesis Magma Racing's Spectacular Debut

Genesis Completes WEC 2026 Season Opener
Ferrari Driver: "I can't understand why they're faster in the corners"

Genesis announced on the 29th that its racing team, Genesis Magma Racing, successfully achieved its initial goal of completing the race in the top-tier 'Hypercar' class at the opening round of the '2026 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC)', the '6 Hours of Imola' race.

Genesis Magma Racing Team. Genesis

The WEC is a race that places emphasis on endurance, with cars running continuously for 6, 8, or even up to 24 hours. During the race, which can last up to 24 hours, WEC race cars must withstand significant stress, including high-revving engines, glowing brakes from intense deceleration, and the thermal management of hybrid system motors and batteries.

In particular, as each car covers long distances, a total of six drivers—three per car—are required. Drivers must compete for position over long stints, contending with variables such as changing weather and tire wear. Genesis Magma Racing entered its first event with a diverse lineup of drivers, from veterans to newcomers, including Andre Lotterer, Pipo Derani, Dani Juncadella, Mathys Jaubert, Mathieu Jaminet, and Paul-Loup Chatin.

During the middle of the race, Andre Lotterer, behind the wheel of car #17, climbed up to 11th position just before pitting. After handing over to Mathys Jaubert, he executed a clean overtake of the Aston Martin (#009). Following a driver change to Pipo Derani as the third stint, the team advanced as high as 9th place.

In a symbolic moment of the impressive race put on by Genesis Magma Racing, Niklas Nielsen of the Ferrari team, who was chasing Mathys Jaubert, expressed his amazement over the team radio, saying, "I can't understand why that car is faster than us in the corners."

At the end of the 6-hour race, car #17 completed 211 laps of the 4.909 km Imola circuit at an average speed of 177.97 km/h, finishing 15th, while car #19 completed 189 laps at an average speed of 176.23 km/h, finishing 17th. The best lap time for car #17 (1:33.090) was only 0.6 seconds slower than the best lap of the winning Toyota Racing Hypercar (#8), which posted 1:32.490, despite Genesis Magma Racing pursuing a stable pace focused on finishing the race.

Genesis Magma Racing Team. Genesis

In the preceding qualifying race, the lap time of car #19 (1:31.258) was just 0.26 seconds behind the car immediately ahead (#93, 1:30.995) and 1.17 seconds behind the first place car (#50, 1:30.088), confirming the potential of Genesis Magma Racing.

Jacky Ickx, brand partner and Genesis Magma Racing advisor, described the team's completion of the race as "an incredible success."

Cyril Abiteboul, head of Hyundai Motorsport and team principal of Genesis Magma Racing, stated, "As a new entrant, rather than focusing solely on absolute results, we set our sights on reliability and execution. The most important thing we confirmed this weekend was the solid foundation and potential of our team," expressing his satisfaction.

Genesis Magma Racing plans to participate in the second race of the season, the '6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps', to be held in Belgium next month.

Meanwhile, despite the late-night to early-morning hours for domestic fans, many visited the onboard live video channels provided by Genesis Magma Racing to watch the race and leave encouraging messages in the real-time chat. The combined maximum concurrent viewers for the onboard video channels of cars #17 and #19 reached 5,000. As of the 28th, the onboard video for car #19 had accumulated 120,000 views and more than 200 comments, creating a passionate atmosphere of support for Genesis Magma Racing.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.