Genesis reveals V8 engine plan for LMDh contender

Genesis has revealed that its 2026 World Endurance Championship contender will be powered by a twin-turbo V8 that builds on sister marque Hyundai’s experience in the World Rally Championship.

Francois-Xavier Demaison, technical director of the Hyundai Motorsport organisation masterminding the Genesis LMDh programme, explained that the internal combustion component of the hybrid powertrain was being developed out of technology employed in its inline four-cylinder 1.6-litre turbo used in the Hyundai i20 N Rally 1.

“We can say that the pistons, the cylinder liners, conrods, the combustion chamber and all the valve train is a one-to-one from the rally engine to the LMDh V8 – but modified, of course,” Demaison told Motorsport.com in the wake of the launch of the Genesis programme on Wednesday.

“We will have to change the cylinder spacing, for example, but the main parts of the engine will be very similar, just to avoid any issues.”

Demaison revealed that the short timeline for the Genesis LMDh project resulted in the decision to use proven technology in an eight-cylinder powerplant that at 3.2 litres will have a capacity double that of the Rally 1 four-pot unit.

He stressed that designing an engine from scratch would not have been possible given the 16 months between the sign-off of the project on 1 September and the scheduled homologation of a car to be known as the GMR-001 Hypercar at the end of next year ahead of its race debut in the 2026 WEC.

“With the time we have it would have been too risky: we really quickly decided to play it safe,” he said.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Work started on the LMDh V8 shortly before the sign-off of the project and it is planned to run on the dyno for the first time in February prior to a scheduled roll-out of a car in the summer.

Hyundai Motorsport president Cyril Abiteboul explained that the same rationale had resulted in the decision to develop an LMDh based on the ORECA chassis spine rather than a bespoke Le Mans Hypercar.

“The initial expression of interest from corporate headquarters was to have bit more freedom and authority on the design [which is allowed by the LMH rules],” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.

“But I said it depends on what kind of timing we are talking about: if you give us three years, yes; if you give us one year, it’s a no-go.

“We have been very pragmatic and humble, and I was very clear that from where we are starting the right direction was definitely an LMDh.”

But he stressed that Genesis would be keeping its options open for what is being billed as a long-term involvement at the pinnacle of endurance racing, both in terms of the chassis and the engine.

“We are already thinking of a long-term plan and what could be the next powerplant after this one,” he explained.

The short time to develop the GMR-001 was also behind the decision to opt for what Abiteboul described as the “staged approach” of entering the WEC in 2026 followed by an expansion into the IMSA SportsCar Championship in year two in 2027.

Cyril Abiteboul, Team principal Hyundai World Rally Team

Photo by: Vincent Thuillier / Hyundai Motorsport

It made sense to join the WEC first, he added, because the car will be run by an in-house team to be known as Genesis Magma Racing, whereas when it enters IMSA it will work with a partner team.

He explained that he wanted Hyundai Motorsport to be “as close as possible to the product” during its first year of racing.

“I don’t want to have any filter or firewall between us and the car,” he said. “That is behind the decision to do WEC [first]; we know that in IMSA we will never be able to do it in a such a way.”

Genesis will work with the French IDEC Sport team next year, jointly running an LMP2 ORECA-Gibson 07 in the European Le Mans Series, as it gears up for its WEC entry, but Abiteboul stressed that this has been devised as a step on the road to having what he called a “self-sufficient” race team in GMR.

Abiteboul revealed that there have already been discussions with potential partners for IMSA, but stated that the formal process of identifying a team to work with will not begin until the new year.

Chip Ganassi Racing, which has ended its four-year collaboration with Cadillac in IMSA and WEC, has been rumoured to be one of the teams in contact with Genesis.