Genesis LMDh: Hyundai’s first step into a future to be built

The first step towards the future of Hyundai Motorsport has been taken. With the announcement of the commitment to the world of LMDh prototypes through the Genesis brand, the ‘revolution’ led by Cyril Abiteboul can finally begin.

It is no secret that since the arrival of the Frenchman at the top of the sports team based in Alzenau, various analyses and evaluations on the future have also begun, going beyond those official presences in the WRC and in TCR touring car racing with a solid Customer Racing department.

The latter is an aspect that should not be underestimated because it is well known that the LMDh platform was created precisely with the intent of containing costs for the manufacturer – which can make use of common parts in the construction of the car – and consequently open up a market for potential teams interested in putting it on the track on their own.

For now, it has been made official that we will soon see a Genesis LMDh, a name that for a long time remained in competition with Hyundai N, and which in the end prevailed also in terms of differentiation of the programs present throughout the world.

The car will clearly be eligible for the FIA ​​World Endurance Championship and the IMSA SportsCar Championship, with the possibility of starting at the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona and Le Mans, in what is a new golden era for endurance racing, although the manufacturer has not yet indicated a preferred championship.

We start from scratch… or almost

The chassis has not yet been revealed: all the clues and rumors lead to Oreca and any statement on the matter will come in due time. Obviously, Abiteboul works hard using his connections among his compatriots and the option for the House that already supplies Alpine and Acura is very valid as well as reliable.

The other thing to underline that has a very important weight is the time frame in which everything will start and then arrive at the debut. This is because in Hyundai Motorsport there is the desire to undertake a new path in the world of endurance, in addition to the solid economic potential, but the structure still has to be assembled and built.

With experience gained in very different racing fields, we now need to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together, starting with the creation of an engine equipped with a hybrid system and studying aerodynamics that by regulation must feature distinctive styling elements of the brand, as happens for the other cars in the series (the large air intakes on the nose of the BMW or the arrow-shaped headlights of the Lamborghini, to give two examples).

Here, not only will the collaboration with Oreca be important, but also finding someone who can already be an expert in the field and currently… unemployed. This is the case of Chip Ganassi Racing, which will separate from Cadillac Racing at the end of the year and has a recently set up base in Europe; the American team also has ties at home with Bryan Herta Autosports, the team that fields the Hyundai Elantra N TCR in the IMSA Pilot Challenge, the championship for touring cars where Robert Wickens races. The professional outlet would therefore be twofold, between the HYPERCAR Class in the FIA ​​WEC and GTP in IMSA.

Hyundai Vision Gran Turismo

In all this, it will be possible to exploit the championships, so to speak, preparatory, such as the European Le Mans Series and the IMSA itself. Several have made their bones exploiting this competition by taking on the LMP2 to begin to familiarize themselves with the regulations and procedures dictated by ACO which are then also implemented in the WEC.

For Hyundai-Genesis it is the most natural step and there is already talk of some teams (also French) with which the dialogues for a collaboration have started. Cool Racing (founded by Nicolas Lapierre, current Alpine driver, but also a reference first and foremost for Oreca), TDS Racing and Idec Sport are the first names circulating in the environment, with which to combine to undertake the path of… weaning the official team.

Regardless of what will be decided for the aforementioned WRC and Touring programs, there will also be a need for reliable reference figures for the management of the team. Among those who have been working for Hyundai for a long time and with a prestigious past is Gabriele Tarquini: the legendary ‘Wild Boar’ continues to follow the boys of the TCR, his main world, so it is natural that his name is among the candidates for the role of Team Manager, even if at the moment there is absolutely nothing certain.

As there is nothing on the drivers’ front; to develop an LMDh, together with the expert engineers in the field, you need those who drive it on the track and indicate the path to follow at its best. And today, Hyundai Motorsport officials only have rally drivers and Touring drivers, who have nothing to do with endurance and prototypes, therefore another aspect to consider with extreme caution, finding elements to focus on also for the future.

Genesis X Gran Berlinetta Vision Gran Turismo Concept

Photo by: Gran Turismo

GT3: more meat on the fire?

Finally, there is another field that has been particularly ‘teasing’ the Hyundai family for some time, that of GT3. It is no secret that in South Korea they love track racing very much, both in the company and among their fans, so the advent of a car with these characteristics would be very welcome.

Here too, however, a reference model is needed in the series product that currently does not exist, so we will have to work carefully and understand how to land in a market – that of Gran Turismo – where Hyundai and Genesis are not present today.

Certainly, the possibility of registering for the FIA ​​WEC in the HYPERCAR class with the LMDh and also having their own GT in the LMGT3 category is very attractive to Abiteboul and his partners, who will now have to start thinking carefully about how to organize the structures and dictate times to meet deadlines.

The scenario could be to use the 2025 season to race in LMP2, starting work on the prototype in parallel to begin on-track development mid-season and make its debut in 2026.

It is true that we are only in mid-September, so time – as we know – is a tyrant in these cases and with everything still to be defined on rallying and tourism (but also other projects on which discussions continue in the company) it would not be possible to rule out the possibility of proceeding calmly and presenting ourselves at the starting line in 2027, with an LMDh prepared down to the smallest details and ready to immediately have its say in a very competitive field.