Genesis at 6 Hours of Imola
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari
Imola, Italy
17–19 April 2026
Impressions from Imola
The foundation laid here - understanding tire degradation and pit stop strategy - accompanies the team through eight months of global competition.
Get it right at Imola, and the season is on solid ground; get it wrong, and the problems pile up.
Beyond the technical aspects, the Prologue tests the team as a “living organism.” Engineers, mechanics, and drivers must operate as a single unit under pressure. It is where routines are rehearsed and communication channels are validated before the first green flag.
"The main conclusion of this week is the strength of our foundations, and the potential of our racing team. I am very grateful to everyone who have entrusted both Luc Donckerwolke and myself to establish this program, our Executive Chair, our Vice Chair, our CEO. I really hope that we made them and the entire Hyundai Motor Group proud of Genesis’ debut in such a highly skilled World Championship."
"We just tried something different with the tires on my stint because we knew there was a lot of potential for a lot of rain so decided to keep the worn tires on the car, try to gain a few seconds, anticipating that we would anyway have to come in for rain tires. But the rain never came! Nevertheless, I am so proud of our achievements today, we have come such a long way to be here, we arrived with the intent of finishing the race and here we are with two cars at the checkered flag."
Proud after encouraging FIA WEC debut weekend
Genesis Magma Racing achieved many of its goals on its debut weekend in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), with both cars finishing the 6 Hours of Imola. The GMR-001 Hypercar proved its reliability and racing credentials over the combined Prologue test and race week, its record spoiled only by an issue in the opening hour of the race for the #19 car.
Both GMR-001 Hypercars showed strong pace throughout the series’ official Prologue test and practice sessions. The team’s preparations for the race culminated in qualifying, when Mathieu Jaminet set a best lap just 1.2 seconds from the fastest time in the first qualifying session – a promising benchmark for the brand-new team and car. The result was evidence of the hard work put in during the 499 days between the initial announcement of the team’s WEC entry and the first competitive track sessions for the 2026 season.
A New Era Starts Now
History in the making! We look back at Imola's legacy as Genesis Magma Racing stands on the brink of its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at the 6 Hours of Imola. With André Lotterer, Pipo Derani and Mathys Jaubert in the #17 GMR-001 Hypercar, and Paul-Loup Chatin, Mathieu Jaminet and Daniel Juncadella in the #19, this is the first step in a new chapter as Genesis Magma Racing prepares to take the first step in its WEC journey at one of endurance racing’s most iconic tracks.
Experience WEC moments
Feel the pace — cockpit-view highlights from previous races
A temple of motorsport
There are circuits that test machinery, and there are circuits that test character. Imola does both, simultaneously and without apology. To call Imola a mere racetrack would be an uncharacteristic understatement. It is, quite fundamentally, a cathedral of speed. Established in 1953 and baptised by Enzo Ferrari himself as a "little Nürburgring," this circuit does not only sit upon the landscape: it breathes with it.
Imola follows the natural, undulating contours of the Santerno valley. The circuit did not flatten its landscape into submission: it negotiated with it, winding, climbing and dropping through the Emilian topography as though the hills themselves had written the lap. It is a technical masterpiece that rewards the brave and severely admonishes the careless.
Genesis Magma Program
Le Mans is where performance technology becomes measurable. Where reliability isn’t a claim - it’s a result.
Le Mans is where performance technology becomes measurable. Where reliability isn’t a claim - it’s a result.
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