Genesis Spun to the Back at COTA, Then Recovered for Its Best WEC Finish Yet
The #17 GMR-001 recovered from a first-lap spin and a five-second penalty to finish seventh at Lone Star Le Mans — one spot better than the Korean brand's previous best at Spa.
Genesis Magma Racing left its first race on American soil with the best result of its debut FIA World Endurance Championship season. The #17 GMR-001 Hypercar of Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert, and Andre Lotterer finished seventh in the six-hour Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of the Americas, one spot better than the team's previous high of eighth at Spa in May.
It nearly went wrong on the first lap. Lotterer gained three positions off the start, then went for third at the end of the back straight and made contact with the #50 Ferrari — the car that would go on to win the race. The Genesis spun to the back of the Hypercar field, and Lotterer collected a five-second penalty on top.
A mid-race Safety Car during Derani's double stint erased much of the deficit, and a Virtual Safety Car with just over an hour to go let the crew change only the left-side tires. That handed the final stint to Jaubert, the youngest driver in the Hypercar class, who climbed to eighth in traffic and inherited seventh when the #12 Cadillac was penalized.
The sister #19 car of Paul-Loup Chatin, Mathieu Jaminet, and Dani Juncadella finished 15th after the final Safety Car fell outside its pit window and forced an extra stop. Even so, both cars reached the checkered flag on the lead lap for the first time, neither needed the garage for a technical issue all weekend, and both made Hyperpole for the first time in a regular qualifying session.
A quick climb for the WEC's newest manufacturer
Genesis is five races into its first-ever motorsport program. The GMR-001, developed by Hyundai Motorsport around a 3.2-liter turbocharged V8 derived from the company's World Rally Championship engine, finished 15th and 17th on its debut at Imola in April. The first points came at Spa a month later; Austin marked the brand's first WEC start in the United States.
"We made several mistakes in several different areas, so it was a bit of a wake-up call," said chief engineer Justin Taylor, pointing to the gap between the car's pace and the team's execution.
Up front, the race swung late: the leading #7 Toyota retired with a hydraulic failure in the closing minutes, handing victory to the #50 Ferrari 499P — the Italian manufacturer's first WEC win since Le Mans last year.
Three rounds remain in the 2026 season. Genesis has yet to put both cars in the points on the same day, and that — along with cleaner race execution — is now the obvious next target.
