Genesis Hypercar Debuts Searing Magma Orange Paint Job

Genesis Magma Racing (GMR) rolled out its GMR-001 Hypercar for its official debut at the New York Auto Show.

In addition to the car that will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA), GMR unveiled the race suits drivers André Lotterer and Luis “Pipo” Derani will don and the screaming Magma Orange livery the LMDh endurance prototype will wear.

“Discreetly integrated into the design is the Korean Hangeul lettering for “Magma” (마그마), with its consonants “ㅁ, ㄱ, ㅁ” forming geometric motifs that echo the team’s logo,” according to the manufacturer.

GMR has not yet released final specifications for its endurance racer, but we know the chassis was developed in partnership with ORECA Motorsport, which is one of four chassis suppliers teams can choose to work with. The turbocharged beating heart of the GMR-001 shares a lineage with the World Rally Championship four-cylinder engines from parent company Hyundai.

Though Genesis isn’t ready to talk about the engine or its max potential power rating, the LMDh series caps each car’s power at 670 horsepower, which includes a hybrid boost (engines are capped at 630 ponies by themselves).

The GMR-001’s bodywork was designed at Genesis Design Europe under Chief Creative Officer Luc Donckerwolke. “The GMR-001 Hypercar, like every race car, is a sculpture designed by the constraints of efficiency and performance— combined with the design DNA of Genesis—the brand with the Two Lines,” said the designer.

The Two-Line theme is most obvious in the design of the GMR-001’s lighting units, which sit directly above a pair of sharp carbon aero elements.

Racing legend Jacky Ickx—who had an ultra-successful career spanning Formula 1, endurance sports car racing, and rallying—is an official Genesis partner, and he told AutoGuide he’s well aware that the team has a long road ahead of it as it starts at ground zero.

Considering the firepower Genesis brought with it as it unveiled the Hypercar, the Korean automaker is certainly expecting success. Cyril Abiteboul, former head of Renault F1, is serving as team principal. Lotterer has won at Le Mans three times and is the reigning WEC champion. Derani is a two-time IMSA champ and a four-time winner at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Genesis will need all of that experience as it takes on the likes of Acura, Alpine, BMW, Cadillac, Toyota, Ferrari and Porsche at Le Mans next year.

Become an AutoGuide insider. Get the latest from the automotive world first by subscribing to our newsletter here.