Genesis Magma Racing Readies GMR-001 Hypercar Test
Genesis Magma Racing now prepares for the first full test of the GMR-001 Hypercar after chassis partner ORECA completed the first car and the team logged a successful shakedown. Finished in bare carbon fibre, this car is the first of three development chassis scheduled over the coming months to drive GMR-001 development and homologation before its 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship debut.
The finished car brings multiple strands of the development programme together and marks the latest milestone since the official project announcement last December. Rapid progress continues on schedule and reflects the team’s ‘Hyperspeed’ philosophy at its core.
“We are at a time where we seem to be passing milestones every day, but this is exactly what we must be doing,” said Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul. “After planning for and talking about these moments for the last eight months, to be able to see a finished car running exactly as we planned is incredibly exciting.”
He added, “We are also starting the process of moving into the new Genesis Magma Racing facility at Le Castellet. The start of testing is the beginning of bringing the different streams of work together — the design and development of the chassis, the design and development of the engine, equipping a workshop and building the team.”
With the engine, hybrid system and gearbox installed and the car’s first fire-up completed last month, ORECA mechanics finished the build and delivered the GMR-001 to Genesis Magma Racing engineers, who now lead the testing phase. As chassis partner, ORECA remains embedded in the long-term project and will continue to support GMR-001 development.
Drivers André Lotterer and Pipo Derani will conduct the upcoming tests. Both completed simulator sessions to calibrate the virtual model of the GMR-001 and establish a baseline setup to maximise learning from the first run. The team wrapped up final preparations at a successful shakedown that verified mechanical and electrical systems and gave Lotterer and Derani their first drive in the hypercar.
After the initial running, the team will execute an extensive test schedule at circuits across Europe. Engineers and mechanics at the Genesis Magma Racing facility will analyse data from each outing, apply updates to the GMR-001 Hypercar and validate gains through ongoing simulator work by the drivers.
Genesis Magma Racing Technical Director FX Demaison said, “Every bit of running we do with the GMR-001 Hypercar in 2025 is extremely valuable. The work in preparation that André and Pipo have done on the simulator and during the shakedown means that we have a good starting point for the first tests. Working with our chassis partners at ORECA throughout the testing and development, we can quickly take the data from each test, find a solution and validate it to be able to take full advantage of every moment.”
