Genesis Magma Racing Builds for Its 2026 WEC Debut
Genesis Magma Racing took its first public steps in Dubai in December 2024 and began a huge task. The team had only 499 days between that announcement and the first race of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. In that time, Genesis Magma Racing had to build not only a car and an engine but also a complete WEC team.
Genesis Magma Racing had “No Alternative” to Entering WEC as a Full Manufacturer Team. That choice increased the scale of the challenge because Genesis entered the WEC paddock as an in-house manufacturer team instead of working with an existing outfit. “Given the long-term objectives, there was absolutely no alternative,” explained Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul. “It was mandatory for us to do everything ourselves, instead of giving responsibility to a partner team, which would have been the easier thing to do.”
He continued: “This is the start of a long-term project for Genesis Magma Racing, and we wanted to start with our own soul, skill and people. Genesis also wants to understand motorsport as a manufacturer and bring that high-performance culture to the company. The only way to do this is to remove the firewall between the race team and the brand and take full control ourselves.”
Genesis Magma Racing has built a team of 75 people from 16 nationalities. The team works across Genesis Magma Racing’s race base at Le Castellet in France, Hyundai Motorsport’s headquarters in Offenbach, Germany, and the nearby Technical Centre in Fechenheim. Engineers built the Genesis G8MR 3.2-litre turbo V8 there, which powers the GMR-001 Hypercar. For the eight rounds of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship, which start with next month’s 6 Hours of Imola, the team will come together in the paddock for Genesis Magma Racing’s debut WEC season.
Genesis Magma Racing assembled the team from scratch without compromise. The line-up includes specialists from endurance racing and from across the wider motorsport world. It also includes 15 team members from Hyundai Motorsport who moved to Genesis Magma Racing through the Trajectory Program. Together, they bring a broad mix of experience and different approaches to a team that started with a blank sheet of paper.
Genesis Magma Racing Team Manager Anouck Abadie said, “Starting from a white page does have advantages. We could do what we thought was best for the team’s structure, without having to follow anything that had gone before. We were only focused on what we thought would work best. For the people, too, we had everyone starting new so that we could put the right people in the right roles without any compromises or politics.”
The team tested its structure alongside the GMR-001 Hypercar during the second half of 2025. That work led to the December test at Barcelona, where 80% of the on-event team took part. The test confirmed Genesis Magma Racing’s operational plans for the 2026 WEC season.
Genesis Magma Racing also set up a new facility and avoided compromise on the location of its race base. The team chose a site close to both its chassis partner, ORECA, and Circuit Paul Ricard, where the GMR-001 Hypercar completed its first tests. The operation now runs from a 2,900-square-metre workshop, where crews will prepare the race cars between rounds.
Genesis Magma Racing Operations Director Sebastien Metz said, “At the Genesis Magma Racing race base, we have all the key departments and requirements of the team in one place. We have a dedicated area for mechanics’ pit-stop practice and a space for remote engineering operations during each race weekend. It was important for us to have as much capability as we could within the team and workshop, and we have a perfect opportunity to do that.”
Genesis Magma Racing team members will stand out in the paddock in team clothing that combines black and Magma Orange. Kappa, the team’s Official Team Apparel Partner, supplies the kit. The design features the familiar geometric Genesis Magma Racing logo. It also includes the traditional Korean hangul writing that inspired it in a subtle tone-on-tone repeating pattern, which keeps the team true to its “distinctly Korean” philosophy.
The colour combination carries strong meaning. Black reflects the humble attitude, while the brighter shade represents the self-confidence and passion of Korean culture. Genesis Magma Racing is now preparing to become the country's first manufacturer to compete in the championship.
