Presented this Wednesday, the Genesis Magma Racing GMR-001 has also, in recent weeks, has taken a first crucial step with the very first ignition of the V8 Bi-Turbo engine which will equip the prototype responding to the LMDH regulations from the 2026 season, to participate in the WEC and IMSA championships.
If this first start was announced this Thursday in an official statement, the latter reveals that it was made reality “At the end of February”at the headquarters of Hyundai Motorsport, since Genesis is the premium brand of the Korean manufacturer, thus marking eight months of engine development supervised by the engine manager Julien Moncet and the director of the engine workshop Rob Benson.
In detail, the V8 design phase began in June 2024 to end four months later. The assembly of the engine then started in 2025 so that it was ready for start -up. From now on, the phase that opens for the Hyundai teams will be to continue and finish the tests on test bench for the engine and the other elements of the block (with connection to the gearbox then to the standard hybrid unit) before track tests later in the year.
“Hyundai Motorsport is the backbone of Genesis Magma Racing, and the development of the GMR-001 hypercar engine is the perfect demonstration”said Cyril Abiteboul, director of the team. “We have a great wealth of expertise at Hyundai Motorsport, then to develop the engine of the GMR-001, it was quite natural to call on the people we have.”
“We have a very solid team at Hyundai Motorsport,” said Moncet. “”Everyone is working together on the powertrain, communication is therefore very good between the departments, the information has risen between the simulations. This accelerates the development process and allows us to adapt immediately as soon as we see something, without wasting time. “
It should be noted that the basic architecture of this V8 engine is derived from the online four -cylinder engine that equips the Hyundai i20 n rally1 in WRC, the two units sharing “60% of their parts” According to the brand.
