Genesis outqualifies Toyota at Le Mans debut, lines up 6th and 9th for Saturday's race

Genesis made a strong statement in its Le Mans debut, placing both GMR-001 hypercars in the top 10 and securing solid grid positions for Saturday's race. The final starting grid confirmed that Genesis Magma Racing's two entries will line up sixth and ninth.

At Hyperpole qualifying Thursday at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France, the No. 19 GMR-001 claimed sixth on the grid and the No. 17 secured ninth. The No. 19 is driven by Mathieu Jaminet, Pipo Derani and Dani Juncadella; the No. 17 by André Lotterer, Louis-Félix Derani and Mathis Joubert.

Le Mans Hyperpole is the final qualifying procedure that determines starting positions at the front of the grid. Top qualifiers from the opening session advance to Hyperpole 1, and the fastest 10 cars from that session then contest Hyperpole 2 to decide pole position and the front rows of the grid.

Genesis cleared Hyperpole 1 and advanced to Hyperpole 2, with both cars finishing inside the top 10.

The result exceeded expectations for a team making its Le Mans debut. Genesis Magma Racing entered the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time this season. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is widely regarded as the longest and most demanding round on the WEC calendar. It requires not only outright lap speed but also 24-hour durability, pit-stop execution, night-driving stability and driver management.

The Hyperpole session saw standings shift sharply in its closing minutes. Dries Vanthoor of BMW M Team WRT set the fastest time in the No. 15 BMW M Hybrid V8 to claim pole position. Cadillac's Jack Aitken briefly led the session in the No. 38 car, but officials deleted his lap time after the session for a start procedure violation, dropping him to 10th. The penalty reshuffled the upper order, moving Genesis' No. 19 to sixth and the No. 17 to ninth on the grid.

The result stands out given the competition Genesis faced. BMW took pole, Cadillac placed multiple hypercars near the front, and Alpine showed strong pace on home soil with its No. 35 car qualifying third.

Toyota, widely considered a Le Mans powerhouse, struggled to match the pace of the frontrunners and fell toward the back of the hypercar field. Against that backdrop, Genesis placing both cars in the top 10 on its first attempt demonstrates the GMR-001's single-lap competitiveness.

Genesis consistently showed its presence throughout qualifying. In the opening session, Pipo Derani drove the No. 17 and Juncadella took the wheel of the No. 19. Juncadella pushed the No. 19 as high as fourth at one point, while Derani ran steadily in the upper order — sending both cars through to Hyperpole 1.

In Hyperpole 1, Mathis Joubert and Mathieu Jaminet took over the No. 17 and No. 19 respectively. Joubert particularly impressed, posting a competitive lap time despite losing dashboard readouts mid-session. The youngest driver in the hypercar field, he set his fastest time of the session in the closing minutes. Jaminet also contributed to the No. 19's advancement to Hyperpole 2.

In Hyperpole 2, veterans André Lotterer and Pipo Derani took the final runs for their respective cars. Lotterer's first flying lap was deleted for a track limits violation, but he recovered to secure ninth on the grid. Derani drove the No. 19 into the top tier of the session, clinching sixth place on the starting grid.

Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul said finishing sixth and ninth in the team's Le Mans debut was "clearly an outstanding result." He said having both cars reach Hyperpole on Thursday already felt encouraging, but Friday's outcome showed the entire team had taken another step forward. "The race on Saturday and Sunday is what matters most," he added. "The hardest part is still ahead, and we will now focus everything on the race weekend."

Pipo Derani called it "an amazing achievement" for a first-year Le Mans entry to have both cars contest Hyperpole 2. "In any project there are milestones you have to reach and celebrate — today is one of those moments," he said. Lotterer echoed the sentiment, saying reaching this point with a new team and a new car was "a remarkable achievement for everyone involved." He called the result unexpected and said it provided strong motivation heading into the race.