Who Are The Team Behind Genesis Magma Racing?

With the debut of Genesis Magma Racing fast approaching, who are the team behind South Korea’s first Hypercar challenger?

South Korea’s first ever Hypercar endurance racing effort, Genesis Magma Racing, is set to take the fight to the established marques in the WEC’s Hypercar class next year. To the keen eye, the list of names that are taking on this challenge is astounding, a real who’s who of motorsports, but can this team really take on the likes of Ferrari, Porsche and Toyota?

Launched in 2015, the Genesis brand is the luxury subsidiary of motoring titan Hyundai. It sought to challenge the entrenched luxury marques like Audi and Mercedes-Benz when it entered the US market in 2016, before starting sales in Europe in 2021. It announced its racing division, Magma, in December last year. The team intends to run two Hypercars in the WEC in 2026, before entering the North American IMSA Championship the year after with a further two entries for the GTP class.

Its GMR-001 Hypercar is set to debut in Qatar next March. The Genesis challenger uses the same Oreca Chassis Spine used by fellow LMDh manufacturers Alpine and Acura, but mated to an intriguing powerplant. The 3.2-litre turbocharged V8 hybrid unit essentially combines two 1.6-litre inline-4 cylinder engines from Hyundai’s WRC cars. It’s a gruff, fire-spitting combination.

Auditory excitement aside, Genesis believe it can really trouble the Hypercar class. In just 12 months, it has setup a permanent base at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, developed its Hypercar, hired drivers and team members from all over the racing world, and created a talent pipeline to evaluate new drivers for its Hypercar roster.

Partnering with endurance racing stalwarts IDEC Sport, the team launched its Trajectory program. Genesis has put a number of drivers through their paces by entering a car into the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and Le Mans for this season; the GMR #18 machine took three victories in the 2025 season, and P3 in the overall standings. The team also ran an LMP2 entry at Le Mans to prepare for next year. Genesis had so much development to do in a very short timeframe. Who is behind this rapid turnaround, and who will we see on the WEC grid next year?

Cyril Abiteboul

The architect of the Genesis team, Abiteboul’s CV boasts stints in Formula One and the WRC. After six years as team principal of Renault F1 Team, the Frenchman joined Hyundai Motorsport in 2023. As team principal of the Hyundai World Rally Team he saw Thierry Neuville take his first drivers’ championship victory in 2024; the team’s first title since 2020. Now, as president of Hyundai Motorsport and team principal of Genesis Magma Racing, Abiteboul will oversee all of Hyundai/Genesis’ motorsports operations.

André Lotterer

When Genesis announced its intention to go racing, it showed it was serious by poaching reigning WEC Champion Andre Lotterer from Porsche Penske Motorsport. The 44-year old German is a legend of the WEC paddock, having taken two championships and three Le Mans wins in his career. He’s earned accolades with both Porsche and Audi, so brings know-how from two of motorsports most successful brands. He's also worked with the Jaguar and Caterham F1 teams as a test driver, and has a storied career racing in Japan, with championships in Super GT and Formula Nippon.

Luís Felipe 'Pipo' Derani

Brazilian ace Pipo Derani was another of Genesis’ big early driver signings. Plucked from the Action Express Racing team, he brings extensive knowledge from one of IMSA’s most successful teams, having taken IMSA Championships with them in both the DPi and GTP eras. Alongside his experience with the Cadillac LMDh car, he also raced for Glickenhaus in the early years of the Hypercar class. He makes the switch back to a full-time WEC seat in 2026.

Mathys Jaubert

GMR’s youngest signing is the 20-year old Porsche Carrera Cup star Jaubert. A graduate of the Genesis Trajectory programme, the Frenchman is considered something of a prodigy; he’s had immense success driving IDEC Sport’s ELMS entry this year, taking three class victories in six races. His other racing exploits in Porsche Cup cars in 2025 have netted him several wins in Porsche Carrera Cup France and a victory in the prestigious Porsche Supercup. Jaubert has already completed several tests of the GMR-001 since September.

Daniel Juncadella

Announced alongside Jaubert, the Spanish GT racing legend is no stranger to the WEC or to endurance racing victory. Whilst racing for Mercedes-AMG, Juncadella took the overall victory at the Spa 24 Hours in 2022, and the GT World Challenge Endurance Cup Championship in the same year. With the introduction of the LMGT3 category, he took the step up to the WEC to race with Corvette in the past two seasons. An LMGT3 win at the beginning of the 2025 season, followed by several victories in ELMS alongside Jaubert, secured him a factory contract with GMR in 2026.

Paul-Loup Chatin

Photo Credit: Alpine Racing / DPPI

The Frenchman completes the Genesis Hypercar lineup alongside Mathieu Jaminet. The 2023 IMSA LMP2 Champion is well-versed in both the WEC and its Hypercar class, having taken Alpine’s first victory in its A424 Hypercar in Fuji this year. The 34-year old’s experience with Alpine will be invaluable to Genesis – he’s experienced the process of taking a new Hypercar entrant from debut to the top step of the podium, and he understands the Oreca chassis which Alpine and Genesis share. His existing links with IDEC Sport (he took the 2019 ELMS LMP2 Championship with them and still races with them today) also didn’t hurt.

Mathieu Jaminet

Photo Credit: Porsche Newsroom

It was a French double feature to round out GMR’s 2026 driver lineup. Reigning GTP champion Jaminet is one of the most experienced LMDh drivers in the Genesis roster; he’s raced in the Porsche 963 since 2023, and in its GT3 machinery before that. The 2022 IMSA GTD champion has a decade of experience with Porsche, and four Le Mans starts to his name. Speaking to Sportscar365, he said Porsche’s decision to withdraw from WEC had no effect on his switch to Genesis, as he had decided he would leave Porsche before its announcement to cut back its 963 programme. Jaminet completed his first test with the GMR-001 at MotorLand Aragon in November.

Jamie Chadwick

Racing alongside Jaubert and Juncadella in the ELMS this season, Chadwick had a stellar start to full-time sportscar racing. The Brit has been racing in single-seaters for many years, taking three W Series Championships and a win in the Indy NXT championship. She had a strong showing at her first Le Mans alongside Jaubert and Lotterer, before they retired with a technical fault. This, alongside her ELMS results, means she will be retained by the team as their reserve and development driver. Chadwick completed her first test with the GMR-001 at Magny-Cours in October, and will be complete further on-track and simulator testing to develop the car in 2026. Chadwick will also stay a part of the GMR Trajectory programme and is expected to contest the ELMS again with a new flock of GMR drivers.

Jacky Ickx

While the 80-year old racing legend may not be driving the GMR-001, he is lending his decades of expertise as a brand ambassador. Ickx’s name carries immense weight in the world of sportscar racing with five Le Mans wins and two World Sportscar Championships to his name; joining a lesser-known team like Genesis lends credibility to its effort. Ickx has seen success across many disciplines - taking wins in sportscars, at the Paris-Dakar, and in Formula One - so brings a raft of experience with him as a guide for the team.

François-Xavier Demaison

Affectionately known as FX Demaison in paddocks around the world, GMR’s new technical director brings years of technical know-how from all disciplines of motorsport. His previous job listings start in the WRC: first at Peugeot, then onto Subaru, Citroën and Petter Solberg’s own WRC team, before transitioning to support Volkswagen’s rallying effort as its project manager. He oversaw all VW motorsport projects as technical director, including two WRC manufacturer’s titles, two drivers’ titles and the record shattering VW I.D.R electric prototype. After a brief stint as tech director for Williams F1 Team, he joined Hyundai Motorsport in 2023.

Anouck Abadie

As a former racer, Abadie brings hands-on experience to her role as GMR’s project manager. She’s previously worked with the FIA and the hugely successful Kessel Racing GT team, so she’s no stranger to endurance racing. As Sporting Director for the Ferrari customer team, she oversaw its entries into the WEC, ELMS and Ferrari Challenge.

Justin Taylor

GMR’s chief engineer has had a hand in numerous top flight endurance successes over the past two decades. He spent ten years as an engineer on Audi’s wildly successful LMP1 machines, and has had stints in IMSA and IndyCar. He oversaw Ferrari #51’s Le Mans victory in 2023 as its race engineer, before switching over to IMSA to work for Chip Ganassi Racing, who ran Cadillac’s entries until the end of the 2024 season. Taylor also spent two years working for Oreca - the company which now manufactures the Genesis LMDh chassis – so has a existing relationship with one of its largest technical partners. Now, he takes the step up to the role of Chief Engineer for the 2026 season. His IMSA experience could also be useful for GMR’s stateside entry in 2027.

Gabriele Tarquini

The man with the best name in motorsports is no stranger to the Hyundai Motorsports family; the 1994 British Touring Car Champion saw out his driving career racing Hyundai TCR cars. He delivered them the World Touring Car Championship in 2018, before taking a managerial role overseeing all Hyundai customer Touring Car operations. His leadership saw Hyundai take three TCR championships in four years. Now, the 63-year old takes on a new challenge as GMR’s sporting director. Despite having minimal endurance racing experience, his managerial success and a long relationship with Hyundai puts him on a strong footing for next season.

In 2026, Genesis will take not just its first step into the WEC, but its first step into any motorsports. While they may not be challenging for championships from the first race in Qatar, its key team appointments – both on and off track – show it's joining this championship to win. Under the oversight of Hyundai Motorsport, it remains to be seen whether this team will create a winning formula.

All photo rights belong to Genesis Magma Racing unless otherwise stated.

This article was originally published on The Sportscar Database's social media.