Lacking a steering wheel in IndyCar despite a recent test, the last American Formula 1 driver Logan Sargeant, fired in September by Williams, will move towards endurance in a new project.
Genesis, the luxury brand of Korean manufacturer Hyundai, has just announced its entry into competition in 2026 as part of major endurance races (see illustration above).
The third largest manufacturer in the world, the Hyundai group also includes Kia and will develop prestige models under the Genesis flag.
Abiteboul at the helm
A prototype meeting LMDh (Le Mans Daytona hybrid) regulations, with an Oreca chassis and an in-house engine, will thus be entered in the WEC world championship from 2026 and the American IMSA series in 2027.
The program is led by former Renault F1 team principal Cyril Abiteboul, now president of Hyundai Motorsport and crowned with the recent world rally title of his driver Thierry Neuville. Located near Castellet where the Oreca factory is located, the Genesis Magma Racing team will work around the French team IDEC Sport to enter an LMP2 from 2025 in the ELMS (European Le Mans Series) in order to train its staff and its pilots.
LMP2 a 2025
If veteran André Lotterer, reigning WEC world champion, and Brazilian Pipo Derani, already crowned in IMSA, will be responsible for developing the Genesis GMR-001, the LMP2 crew includes Logan Sargeant associated with Briton Jamie Chadwick, triple W Series champion, and the young Frenchman Mathys Jaubert (19 years old), revealed in the Porsche Carrera Cup.
We still don't know if Sargeant is drawing a line under his single-seater career at 23, because his promotion to the WEC in 2026 is not yet certain, but there is no doubt that official driver status for a major endurance manufacturer would not be done to displease him after his setbacks in Formula 1.
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