Yahoo Autos Genesis Announces Intent to Enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Hyundai Motorsport has announced its intention to join endurance racing under the Genesis brand.
The announcement suggests that the Genesis car will compete in both the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Details about when Genesis plans to join endurance racing are still forthcoming.
A new name is set to join endurance racing. Yesterday, Hyundai Motorsport announced its intent to expand into the top-level prototype class of endurance racing with a team under the Genesis brand. The move will be a big leap for Hyundai Motorsport, which is currently involved in the World Rally Championship and TCR touring cars.
In a statement to Car and Driver, Genesis explained the move, saying that "endurance racing presents an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Genesis's cutting-edge technology, design philosophy, and performance-driven character." The top-level prototype class is a hotbed of competition among premium brands, with cars from the likes of Cadillac, Acura, Porsche, Lamborghini, BMW, and Ferrari. Genesis said that details such as technical partnerships, a driver lineup, and when it will hit the track will be shared at a later time.
The announcement originally came via an Instagram post from the FIA, the governing body for the World Endurance Championship, which includes the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. The FIA says that Genesis' entry is still subject to approval from the WEC Selection Committee.
In its own post Genesis said it would compete under the LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) ruleset, the regulations used to govern the GTP prototypes in the American-based IMSA SportsCar Championship, which holds the 24 Hours of Daytona. While the LMDh rules are different than the LMH rules that WEC developed for its top Hypercar class, the new regulations that introduced both types of cars in 2023 allows teams to field either LMDh and LMH cars in both IMSA and WEC, so it seems likely that Genesis will compete in both series. Genesis will probably partner with an existing racing team for its endurance racing efforts, with rumors published by racer.com suggesting that Genesis may end up working with Chip Ganassi Racing.
While Hyundai and Genesis haven't competed in endurance racing before, the brands have teased their interest in the past with a series of concept cars. Last year Genesis revealed the low-slung X Gran Berlinetta concept as its contribution to the Vision Gran Turismo series, before unveiling the X Gran Racer this summer with more track-ready aerodynamics. Hyundai's own virtual race car for the Gran Turismo video game, the N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo, was also a dramatic-looking prototype race car. While the actual race car will likely look vastly different from these concepts, it's clear Hyundai has been readying an endurance program for some time.
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