Korean manufacturer Genesis is still holding off on making a firm decision on the timing of its planned entry into the GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the GMR-001 LMDh prototype.
Speaking to DSC today ahead of the team’s highly-anticipated debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours, programme boss Cyril Abiteboul explained that Genesis will be more focused on its planned IMSA GTP programme when the FIA WEC visits Circuit of The Americas later in the season.
Previously, Genesis aimed to expand to IMSA in 2027 after the GMR-001’s debut FIA WEC season. But a number of factors in recent months have led to a delay in Genesis making key decisions on service provider and its entry point.
“Our timing for IMSA is more related to Austin when we go to the US, when we go to Qatar,” Abiteboul said. “For us it’s a great opportunity to understand the dynamic with the fans through the WEC championship, and to what extent IMSA is a good additional piece to the overall programme. So, we’ll be probably more focused on IMSA at that point in the year. For now, we are very focused and happy to be where we are, focusing on doing a good job here (in WEC).”
As a result, Genesis making its IMSA debut with the car next year looks highly unlikely, with Abiteboul noting that it would be “very challenging” at this point to put together a team to take part in any or all of the IMSA races in 2027.
“First things first, we want to make sure that we’ve got this place here (WEC) under control before expanding,” he said. “We want to make sure that the foundation is right, because WEC will always be the foundational element to any other expansion, whether it’s IMSA or whether even it’s Asian Le Mans Series. There is talk about that.”
Abiteboul also hinted that Acura’s decision to “pause” its GTP effort after 2026 may influence Genesis’ ultimate decision to enter GTP, when the time comes.
“We’ve seen the news, which for us is not positive news, of Acura stepping out or pausing its involvement in the sport,” he said. “It’s not a good news, because we want to race against other manufacturers. One of the reasons why we’re here is that there are so many factors to compete against. We like to see the same from IMSA, so it will be interesting to understand what will be the response, what the plan of IMSA is for this situation.
“Then we also need to see the state of the world, because it’s true that it’s a changing world in which we are all living, and we need to make sure that the world is in the right place to expand on our programme, and make sure that the return on investment and the value proposition of IMSA is still there.”
As a result, Genesis has not chosen a service provider for GTP, having originally planned to have signed up a partner in Q1 of this year when the GMR-001 project was first launched back in December 2025.
“We definitely have had some business trips in the US,” Abiteboul added. “We’ve had some meetings in the US. We’ve been visiting places in the US, but so far we give ourselves a couple of months of breathing space, focus on that before we decide of the next move, which, which could, and should be in IMSA, but again, until the decision is fully made, we are, for the time being, we are focusing on this.”
As for the medium to long term future of Genesis’ wider involvement in sportscar racing, Abiteboul noted he is keeping tabs on the forthcoming 2030 Hypercar regulations as he wishes for Genesis to have its say in the shape of the formula into the next decade.
It’s widely expected that we will hear more about the regulations later this week, adding to the importance of this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours for Genesis and the suite of manufacturers involved in Hypercar and GTP.
“We have an eye on 2030 because we’ve got some ideas and we want to contribute to the thinking process here,” Abiteboul explained. “That’s definitely a part of what we are doing, as well as many other meetings and opportunities, as we have a big delegation here in Le Mans from Korea, and that’s an opportunity for them to meet also with a number of representatives from the sport that will be in attendance this weekend.
“For us this week will be very intense, it will be important. I think everyone sees the journey that we are on already, everyone sees the merit of what this programme is bringing to the brand, but also more widely to the group, and if, if anything, maybe also even to the country.”
Image courtesy of Peter May
