In September 2024, Hyundai announced that it would enter endurance motorsport under the Genesis brand rather than the Hyundai nameplate, selecting Oreca as its chassis supplier. The car was formally unveiled at a Genesis Motorsports Premiere event held in Dubai in December 2024, when it was given the name GMR-001. At the same event, the newly formed factory team, Genesis Magma Racing, confirmed its intention to enter the FIA World Endurance Championship from 2026 before extending its programme to North America in 2027 via the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Team principal Cyril Abiteboul confirmed at the Dubai launch that the GMR-001 is powered by a twin-turbocharged V8 engine paired with the hybrid system mandated by LMDh regulations.
Two accomplished endurance racers were engaged as development drivers during the car's engineering phase. André Lotterer, a former FIA WEC champion with three Le Mans victories, joined alongside Pipo Derani, an IMSA champion with extensive experience across prototype categories. Both drivers were later confirmed as race drivers for the 2026 WEC season.
As part of the pathway into Hypercar competition, Genesis also supported a 2025 European Le Mans Series entry in the LMP2 class, partnering with IDEC Sport and using an Oreca 07. The original ELMS driver lineup included Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert, with Logan Sargeant initially included before stepping away prior to the season; he was replaced by Daniel Juncadella. Jaubert and Juncadella were subsequently confirmed as full Hypercar programme participants alongside Derani and Lotterer in September 2025.
The GMR-001 completed its initial shakedown test at Circuit Paul Ricard in August 2025. A month later, a more rigorous endurance evaluation was conducted at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal, where the car completed 32 hours of running with all four confirmed race drivers — Lotterer, Derani, Jaubert, and Juncadella — present.
Driver allocations for both cars were confirmed in December 2025. The No. 17 car was assigned to Pipo Derani, Mathys Jaubert, and André Lotterer; the No. 19 to Paul-Loup Chatin, Daniel Juncadella, and Mathieu Jaminet. The GMR-001 made its race debut at the opening round of the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship. In its second WEC race, the No. 17 car scored points with a top-ten finish, placing eighth with the Derani, Jaubert, and Lotterer crew.
The IMSA SportsCar Championship programme in the GTP class is scheduled to begin in 2027.
The GMR-001's exterior design is characterised by an arch-shaped parabolic line extending from the front to the rear of the bodywork, an element drawn directly from Genesis's Magma high-performance road car programme. An active rear spoiler forms part of the aerodynamic package.