Hyundai's getting ready to jump into endurance racing with its Genesis brand. The company will build a new LMDh prototype car for the big leagues of sports car racing.

On Thursday, Hyundai dropped a short message on social media about their plans. They didn't give many details, but it's clear they're serious about this new racing project.

The car will be put together at Hyundai Motorsport's place in Germany. They've got their eyes on racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) and maybe even the IMSA SportsCar Championship in North America. We might see the Genesis car on WEC tracks as soon as 2026.

Hyundai's teaming up with ORECA to design and build the special hybrid chassis for their LMDh car. The engine part? That's all Hyundai - they're making it themselves at Hyundai Motorsport.

Right now, Hyundai's talking to different racing teams about running their car. They're looking at Cool Racing, IDEC Sport, TDS Racing, and DAMS. For races in America, Chip Ganassi Racing might be the top choice. To get ready for WEC in 2026, they'll probably do some racing in the European Le Mans Series in 2025.

Guess who's helping out with this new project? Gabriele Tarquini. He used to race in Formula 1, and he's a big deal in touring car racing. He even won a world title with Hyundai in 2018.

Even with this new endurance racing plan, Hyundai's not giving up on rally racing. They just signed their top driver, Thierry Neuville, for another year. Cyril Abiteboul, who runs the team, says they can handle two big racing programs at once. He wants the rally rules to stay steady and hopes Hyundai will keep racing in rallies for a long time.

Source: Motorsport

Евгений Ушаков
Evgenii Ushakov
15 years driving