Genesis completes both cars in Brazil as WEC debut season shows progress

Genesis Magma Racing closed out the first half of its FIA World Endurance Championship debut season with a milestone: both cars finished. The team failed to score points, but completing the six-hour race without technical issues on either of its two GMR-001 hypercars marked meaningful progress in reliability and operational stability.

At the 2026 FIA WEC 6 Hours of São Paulo at the Interlagos Circuit on Sunday (local time), the No. 19 car crossed the line in 13th place and the No. 17 in 15th. The race was the team's first away event outside Europe in its WEC debut season.

The biggest takeaway was that neither car made an unscheduled pit stop during the race. Building on data gathered from earlier rounds, the team focused on improving reliability, and the Brazilian race passed without major issues in the chassis, engine or key systems.

Results, however, fell short of expectations. Interlagos is one of the shortest circuits on the WEC calendar, and heavy traffic among GT class cars made overtaking difficult. André Lotterer in the No. 17 and Dani Juncadella in the No. 19 both lost positions after getting caught in traffic early on, and penalties for both cars pushed them further from the points.

The No. 19 briefly climbed as high as second place during Mathieu Jaminet's stint in the middle of the race. Polouf Chatin then took on a final double stint in a bid to recover, but it was not enough to overcome the early losses. The car ultimately finished 13th.

The No. 17 also kept pushing to the end, with Brazilian driver Pipo Derani drawing on support from the home crowd, but the time lost in the opening stages could not be recovered. The car finished 15th.

The team did identify some strategic possibilities during the race. Both cars extended their stints and delayed pit stops, which allowed them to briefly move up the order. Lotterer was momentarily running in the lead before pitting, giving the GMR-001 hypercars a fleeting first-and-second position.

The race flow, however, never turned in the team's favor. Apart from a brief full-course yellow, the event ran without major disruptions, and the threat of rain in the latter stages did not materialize into a game-changing factor. Ultimately, early penalties and small mistakes had a greater impact on the result than strategy.

Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul said reliability was the most important outcome of the São Paulo race. "Completing both cars without technical issues was one of our main goals heading into this event," he said.

He added that securing reliability had also made the team's current operational and performance limitations more apparent. "Going forward, we will focus on cleaner race execution to move up the order," he said.

The drivers also drew meaning from the finish and the experience gained. Jaminet, driving the No. 19, said 13th place was not ideal "but it's only our fourth race." "There was a lot to learn from how we operated and approached the race this weekend," he said.

The race was won by BMW M Team WRT's No. 15 car. Ferrari AF Corse's No. 51 finished second and Cadillac Hertz Team Jota's No. 12 third. Genesis Magma Racing failed to break into the top 10 and did not add to its points tally.

Genesis Magma Racing now enters the WEC summer break. The team plans to analyze data from the Brazilian race and prepare for its next event in Austin, Texas.

Genesis's motorsport push is part of Hyundai Motor Group's broader strategy to strengthen its high-performance image. Hyundai Motor won the Portugal round of the 2026 TCR World Tour on Saturday and Sunday (local time) with the new Elantra N TCR, highlighting the global motorsport credentials of its N brand. Genesis, competing at the higher-tier hypercar level, is building a premium technology image through the WEC program.

Meanwhile, Genesis Magma Racing is Genesis's official motorsport program. The team competes in the WEC drawing on Hyundai Motorsport's WRC experience and engineering expertise, and the GMR-001 hypercar is powered by a V8 engine inspired by Hyundai Motor's WRC technology. The team plans to enter the 2027 IMSA SportsCar Championship after its 2026 FIA WEC campaign.