Genesis says its upcoming World Endurance Championship programme is greater than a advertising and marketing initiative, with Hyundai eager to create a ardour for motorsport in South Korea.
Genesis is the newest producer to have been lured by the Hypercar rules and can enter a pair of LMDh automobiles in WEC’s high class subsequent 12 months, earlier than increasing to IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTP division in 2027.
The luxurious division of Hyundai unveiled the GMR-001 in a particular orange-and-red livery orange livery final month and the prototype is anticipated to hit the observe for the primary time in August as a part of an in depth testing programme.
That is the second main worldwide programme for the Hyundai Group, which has additionally been competing within the World Rally Championship since 2014 with its main model.
However the WEC undertaking carries further significance for Hyundai and Genesis, with the corporate eager on increasing a tradition for motorsport – and particularly circuit racing – in its dwelling nation.
“I had been bothering [the Hyundai directors] about going racing for fairly a while,” Hyundai designer Luc Donckerwolke informed the WEC’s official web site.
“In Korea, there’s not likely a racing tradition. After I initially went there virtually ten years in the past, I requested, the place are the races, the place are the ‘Vehicles and Espresso’ conferences – and everybody was simply me with massive, broad eyes.
“Then I realised, once I took my crew to race occasions, it was the primary time that they had completed that!
“I launched Genesis’ Magma street automotive efficiency vary simply over a 12 months in the past, with the intention of growing a sporty line-up and – in the end – going racing. The difficulty I had was that Koreans are naturally very humble folks and don’t wish to shout about themselves.
“I used to be a bit involved that having ‘Magma’ on the GMR-001 in Korean can be an excessive amount of for our chairman, so I talked to him however he really actually supported the thought.
“That was essential for me, as a result of using the phrase Magma is extraordinarily related. That is the primary time Korea is taking part in circuit racing at this stage, and I want to leverage that to lastly create a ardour for the game within the nation.
“It’s troublesome to consider many Korean racing drivers who’ve competed on the worldwide stage, so one in all my key targets with this initiative is for brand new generations of Koreans to establish themselves with motorsport and perhaps turn into racing drivers themselves.
“Identical to the ‘Bentley Boys’ who helped to ascertain the legend of Bentley, my goal is that André Lotterer, ‘Pipo’ Derani, Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert, Dani Juncadella and all of the others nonetheless to return – hopefully together with some Korean drivers – will probably be Genesis model ambassadors in addition to ambassadors for Korea.
“This undertaking has a really sturdy significance for the nation that goes past a model advertising and marketing initiative. It’s about creating one thing new within the nation’s tradition.”
South Korea hosted Components 1 races on the remotely-located Yeongam observe between 2010-13, whereas the nation’s capital Seoul additionally staged a Components E race in 2022.
No driver from South Korea has ever raced in F1, though Jack Aitken – who holds each British and South Korean nationalities – did compete on the Sakhir GP in 2020.
