Lotterer and Derani satisfied with Genesis tests

They were there for the first laps of Genesis' new Hypercar, and they will be there for its first race in Qatar in 2026. Between these two key dates, André Lotterer and Pipo Derani are taking part in tests aimed at making the GMR-001 a weapon for the years to come, with ambitious goals of a title and victory at Le Mans.

By far the most experienced of the four drivers announced so far by Genesis, André Lotterer takes on the role of "road captain" in a way. Having experienced the design and track arrival of several prototypes from the inside, the German driver brings his experience, and what he saw during the first endurance session conducted by Genesis at MotorLand Aragón rather satisfied him.

“When you plan to race at Le Mans, it’s a 24-hour race, so the car has to be reliable. These tests are the first steps to put the car through its paces over a long period and learn more about all our components, as everything is new. In reality, this is more about the team, the engineers, and the people behind the concept of the car than the driver. Of course, for us, it’s also good to be able to test the car over long distances, especially to learn a little more about tire degradation and driver comfort. Typically, during an endurance test, you don’t do a lot of adjustments. Instead, you focus on keeping the car on the track as much as possible. It was good that we managed to do this relatively early in our test program, which only started at the beginning of August.”

Pipo Derani, who arrives with experience from the Cadillac program in IMSA and at Le Mans, also believes that the test plan is progressing quickly on the Genesis side. A positive figure, even if we shouldn't put the cart before the horse...

“Given that we have only completed six days of testing, we are progressing quickly. There are obviously a lot of things, especially systems-wise, that we need to continue working on, but the Genesis Magma Racing team has done an outstanding job so far. It is not easy to get started in a championship like the WEC, with so many competitors who have been involved for so long. It's not easy to bring together a whole new group of people and get them to understand each other, but I think we're making good progress so far. There are a few areas where we could improve, but there are others where we're better than expected. It's all part of the development, and here we are, after just six days of testing, already completing a 30-hour test. The GMR-001 Hypercar is working well so far. We've had a few issues to work out, but that's normal; that's why you do tests like this."

Testing of the new Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar will continue in the coming months, with two prototypes lining up on the starting grid for the opening round of the 2026 WEC in Qatar on March 28.

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