DSC was delighted to be invited to an event with Cyril Abiteboul at IDEC Sport’s new Signes HQ on the Friday of the Paul Ricard ELMS event to mark the outfit’s 10th anniversary, which was celebrated with a win on the Sunday.
The event gave the opportunity to catch up with several old friends, and one possible new one!
Cyril Abiteboul selected IDEC Sport to operate the South Korean manufacturer’s preparatory team effort in the ELMS this season with an ORECA 07 entered as part of the Genesis Magma Racing ‘Trajectory programme’. It’s a melting pot for future potential Hyprercar factory team talent in and out of the car.
It’s gone VERY well so far, with a class win and second overall at the season opener in Barcelona, and a first overall win at Paul Ricard two days after this interview was conducted!
Abiteboul took time out from the reception to sit down with a small group of journalists. Here’s what he had to say:
Hyundai doesn’t necessarily have a long history in endurance racing. Why did you choose endurance racing? What attracted you? The technology aspect? The fact that other manufacturers are already there, and if you want to compete, you have to commit yourself…
“It’s a bit of all of that. The WEC is doing well, we want to be part of it, and this championship has a heritage. It’s true that as a new brand, Hyundai needs to be part of an automotive heritage. I think a manufacturer that enters a market through motorsport tells a completely different story and speaks to customers in a very different way.
“We’re no longer a brand focused on value and quality; we’re more focused on emotion and performance. This is precisely the area in which we want to position the Genesis brand and, in particular, Magma, the brand’s performance models.”
“The WEC has found a rather magical formula, that is, having a system in which costs are controlled. There’s a guarantee of performance, in a way, and the manufacturer can focus on three very important things: design differentiation, engine technology, and, for those who want to, telling stories about drivers and teams to emphasise this very emotional side that makes sense.
“F1 is magnificent, but Formula 1 is 99% technology; it might be interesting for space shuttles, but absolutely not for automobiles.
“We’re going to take it step by step. The first is to learn the circuit in this Hypercar and LMDh environment, which also opens up an important window into the American market for the Genesis brand and the Hyundai group. All of this made perfect sense!”
That’s why you chose Genesis over Hyundai…
“Absolutely! In all honesty, we compared the two. We analysed which sport, then which brand, and we ended up with endurance racing and the Genesis brand.
“It’s the most competitive environment we’ll be competing in, with all due respect to the WRC. So it was logical that the most premium brand would ultimately be chosen.”
Why did you choose the ORECA chassis?
“We looked at the four homologated manufacturers. Multimatic, even though it was a good option, clearly has a very special collaboration with Porsche. I have a lot of respect for them because they worked in IMSA and WEC last year. But it didn’t work for us. We thought Ligier was a little light on structure for us, so we really looked closely at Dallara and ORECA.
“We really talked a lot with both. However, we felt ORECA would be able to go further and more in-depth in the operation of the race car.
“Since we made the decision to operate the car ourselves, it was important to have someone who could provide more support. And we know this is something ORECA has done very well with Toyota in the past. I want to say that we have great respect for Dallara, and we hope to have a project with them in the future.”
Why are you starting with LMP2 and why with IDEC Sport?
“LMP2 is to provide us with a learning platform. It’s very clear that if we want to be there in 2026, we have to go through this channel. We decided in September 2024 that we would compete in the 2026 Qatar Prologue.
“That gives us 18 months from decision to homologation to develop an engine, a car, and build a team. This can’t be done alone. It has to be done by working with partners like ORECA, for example, to develop the car.
“To build the team, knowing that I had decided that we would operate the car ourselves, it’s a slightly different decision from other car manufacturers. I find there’s no better way than racing experience to learn the strengths and weaknesses of the car. I wanted to simplify things.
“We operate the car ourselves, which means more pressure is put on building the team. So IDEC, through its LMP2 platform, is helping us build that structure.
“We looked at four teams, two of them in great detail, but all of them were credible. IDEC has good results and stability. I think we find ourselves in a comfort zone because it’s a team within a large group.
“I represent an entity, the world of motorsport, which is a team within a large group (Hyundai). Beyond that, I felt that these were people who were very sincerely interested in our success. We’re not in a transactional relationship. Obviously, we talked about contracts, how they work.
“It’s incredible what they’re doing, things that go way beyond our agreement to maximise our chances of collective success.”
We’ve seen a first version of the car. When will it be on the track? What will the different stages be in terms of dates?
“The milestones will accelerate, that’s where it’s going to get a little more complicated. For now, we’ve set an important milestone, which was the engine start-up on the dyno. Today, it’s in line with our plans, our first indicators of weight, power, torque, and price.
“We’re just starting endurance racing. As for the car, we had a concept, a design with the IMSA governing body, which challenged us. As we’re nearing the end, whatever we did, we looked a bit like an Acura or an Alpine, but we needed something different. We found solutions. ORECA is now able to start producing the parts.
“The first car will be assembled at their facility this summer, and we’ll take delivery. The first test will take place in August if we’re in line with the plan, and then we’ve already scheduled six test sessions and six circuits between August and the homologation deadline in December.
“During these six sessions, we’ll sometimes have one car, sometimes two, sometimes during the day, sometimes at night, to maximise the opportunity.”
As for the drivers, we already have André (Lotterer) and Pipo (Derani). What can we say about the others?
“We should have two more to announce fairly soon. Obviously, the intention is to have six, or even seven, with one in reserve by the end of the year.
“We have options on our three drivers currently in the ELMS (Dani Juncadella, Jamie Chadwick, Mathys Jaubert), but these options could be either this year or the following year.
“We’ll continue to recruit at a pace without rushing it, because we don’t want to have six drivers right away; that’s pointless. There are many good and very competitive drivers, but we still need experience.
“We have that with André; he and Pipo form a duo that works extremely well; it’s a joy to watch them develop. They’re having a blast, and I feel that this impatience to be able to race together is growing.
“I’m enjoying this, building this team on a human and driver level.”
And Mathys Jaubert?
“Let’s give him time. Let’s not let ourselves be put in his head by telling him he should do this or that. Endurance isn’t a sprint. The same goes for a driver’s career and development. They need to take a long-term approach.
“Right now, our thoughts for Mathys are that it’s good that he’s racing in LMP2 and ELMS this year.
“He probably won’t do it again next year. Maybe he’ll gain some experience in LMDh, and then in 2027, we’ll see what happens. There’s no rush!”
Will IDEC Sport still be involved in the Hypercar process in the future?
“Yes, I think we’ll already be on their team, in a way, we’ll be neighbours, so we see the ease of contact with everyone.
“With Nico (Minassian), we’ll continue to exchange, and beyond that, I think what we’ve done with the Trajectory Programme for young drivers is here to stay. I’m discovering the endurance racing environment, which is very fluid in terms of human resources.
“We’re starting to discuss how we can maximise it, how to create fluidity between their teams and ours. We’ll also have things to announce at the 24 Hours of Le Mans about investments we’ll be making here, which may involve tools shared with IDEC.”
The programme will be WEC 2026 and then IMSA 2027. With your team? An IMSA team? When?
“It will be with the support of another team that will help us, probably with some local people as well. I want to give us that flexibility because, first, I want to see the car’s competitiveness, that everything is under control, that the system is verified, with the right drivers.
“The next thing, as you mentioned, is to make sure I make the right choice in terms of partner selection. These things take time. And when I see the level of excellence in execution between Penske and Porsche, especially in the United States, I know the level is very high. We don’t want to be like the others, we want to be like Penske and Porsche.
“That’s why I want to make sure that when we go to IMSA, we’ll be able to do what they accomplish. So if it takes a few months to get into the championship, I’ll do it.”
There was a possibility initially discussed that there might be a possibility of an early IMSA entry for some races in 2026. Is that still on the table?
“When I see the number of things that we need to do and get right. We want to give ourselves a bit of flexibility where we can, and IMSA entry timing is one of these.
“I think we’re talking about a six-month window that will extend from the end of ’26 to sort of the second quarter of 2027.
“I think that our partner selection will be in the summer of this year to give them an opportunity to ramp up the investment, the recruitment and so on.”
There’s no shortage of ambition here. You’re happy at the moment that your key timeline is in place?
“Yeah, I think it’s generally OK-ish!
“It’s going to be short (tight) for probably, engine sign off. We’ve got very limited time, and we know that this thing has so much impact, because we’ve got six circuits that are booked for us, but if your engine is not reliable, you are not going to be happy. We need to make sure we get it right the first time.
“Of course, we know that motorsport is often not right the first time, unfortunately, so we have to cross our fingers!
“That is why we’ve taken the shortcut that we’ve taken, which is to use a WRC engine as a starting point for the WEC engine. The upper part of the engine is already developed, which is the most complex part to get right, but you still have the block and other things to sort out.
“So far, so good. But that one is marginal, and if there is a problem, that problem will very quickly have big implications.”
With the commitment to WEC and IMSA, does that close the door to other programmes for Hyundai?
“No, definitely not to WRC, we are in WEC and we will make some announcements in relation to that. But what I want to make very clear is that the two are independent of each other.
“We looked at the business case of Genesis in endurance racing in isolation, and we will look at the business situation, the business case of Hyundai in WRC or Hyundai in TCR in isolation too. For sure, we don’t have infinite resources, but we can afford both, if that makes sense.
“Each one needs to make sense. Each one needs to deliver.
“There are a lot of question marks about WRC at the moment, but this is all independent of Genesis in endurance.”
We are some months on from the decision to take Genesis, with the GMR001, into Hypercar and GTP. Are you still as happy with that decision as you were?
“If anything, even more. I’ve been passionate about endurance racing. I was going to Le Mans almost every year, not for the race. I love going for the test and qualifying on a Wednesday evening or Thursday evening. That’s what I love. Because my weekends are very busy with Formula One, I always make sure to have this very nice ‘time-out’ thing.
“So I sort of love that for the sensation. But I was not at all analytic of the fact that I like Le Mans. But now more and more I understand why, what it means for the car maker and what you can make out of it, including the BOP thing. I understand it, including the regulation.
“It sort of makes sense more from an analytical perspective, because before it was making sense to me from an emotional perspective.”
With thanks to David Bristol for his assistance with the French language part of the round table.
