GENESIS MAGMA RACING SEES POSITIVES AMONG LESSONS LEARNED IN BRAZIL

• Genesis Magma Racing’s two GMR-001 Hypercars finished the 6 Hours of São Paulo without technical issues, a major pre-race aim for the team

• Despite achieving the milestone, neither car was able to score points after falling down the order with penalties in a busy first part of the race on the unique Interlagos circuit

• The team heads into the FIA WEC summer break, preparing to refocus its efforts to continue the progress shown through the first half of its debut racing season

SAO PAULO, July 12, 2026 — Genesis Magma Racing can take valuable lessons and experience from the 6 Hours of São Paulo, the first fly-away event in its debut season in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Both GMR-001 Hypercars showed strong reliability to complete a race without technical issues for the first time, but penalties and small mistakes limited the results the team could achieve.

Strategy Showed Potential; Cut Short by Penalties

In a busy first stint, the difficulty of racing through traffic on the WEC calendar’s shortest track was clear. Both Genesis Magma Racing entries, started by André Lotterer and Daniel Juncadella, lost ground navigating around the GT-class runners. More costly, however, were the early penalties collected by both cars, including a drive-through for the #19, that dropped them down the order.

In response, the team chose to extend the stints of both cars. The energy advantage gained saw both cars rise up the order as they were among the last cars to pit. Lotterer briefly assumed the lead in a fleeting GMR-001 Hypercar 1-2 before pitting to complete the opening drivers’ double stints after just over two hours.

As the race ran without the interruption of anything more disruptive than a short Full Course Yellow, however, the team was never able to make the most of the good strategy despite the flawless reliability of both cars. The potential for rain, as clouds lowered around the circuit in the final two hours of the race, largely held off — even as the GMR-001 Hypercar’s Two-Line design headlights cast an increasingly prominent beam.

The #17 crew was unable to make up for the time lost in the first half of the race, despite the choice to shorten Mathys Jaubert’s second stint to install home hero Pipo Derani. Derani — the only Brazilian driver in the top class — pushed all the way to the checkered flag on his home track, though could only be rewarded with a 15th place finish.

After a strong middle stint from Mathieu Jaminet, where the #19 car again climbed as high as second, Paul-Loup Chatin took the final double stint for the trio still waiting for their first WEC points. The team’s strategy brought him to the pits for the final time with 45 minutes remaining, and though some of the teams running ahead were forced into an extra, late, stop, it was not enough to allow Chatin to gain any places from 13th.

Though the team was always aware of the challenge of the unique Interlagos track, to leave Brazil without a second haul of points is a frustrating end to the weekend. Both GMR-001 Hypercars showed strong pace during the Free Practice and Qualifying sessions, including when Mathieu Jaminet topped Friday afternoon’s FP2 before he qualified the #19 entry seventh on Saturday.