- The luxury carmaker is expected to use a chassis sourced from French firm Oreca.
- Hyundai Motorsport has been tasked with developing the car’s internal combustion engine.
- This compelling new hypercar could be ready to start competing as early as 2026.
Hyundai plans to enter the top division of endurance racing with a new Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) hypercar through its Genesis sub-brand. It will compete against rivals including BMW, Cadillac, Porsche, and Lamborghini.
Unlike Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) models that are built from the ground up, those created under the LMDh ruleset must use a spec chassis from Dallara, Ligiera, Multimatic, or Oreca. They also use a common transmission from Xtrac with an integrated Bosch motor generator and batteries from Williams. The LMH and LMDh cars compete against each other in the World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Read: Genesis X Gran Racer Vision GT Concept Goes Full Race Mode With 1,540 HP
The Korean car manufacturer’s announcement of its endurance racing plans was limited to a few sentences and lacked many important details. However, it is understood that a partnership with Oreca has been secured to design and build the new hypercar, Motorsport reports. Hyundai Motorsport will develop the internal combustion engine in-house.
“We have carefully analyzed LMDh and found it to be a natural fit for our motorsport ambitions and a valuable platform to drive the development of future mobility technologies for road cars,” the marque said. “Endurance racing presents an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Genesis’ cutting-edge technology, design philosophy and performance-driven character in a highly competitive arena. This project is part of our broader vision for the future of mobility.”
The new Genesis hypercar could start competing as early as 2026, although no date has been set in stone. In addition to fighting with Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche, Alpine, and Lamborghini under LMDh regulations, the car will race against entrants from Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, Ferrari, Vanwall, Isotto Fraschini, and Aston Martin from LMH.
Reports suggest the brand will partner with an existing race team for its Hypercar program. Potential partners include Cool Racing, IDEC Sport, TDS Racing, DAMS, and Chip Ganassi Racing.
The design of the hypercar remains a mystery, but it could take inspiration from the Genesis X Gran Racer Vision GT Concept unveiled in June.
