Genesis Magma Racing, the Hyundai-owned manufacturer's World Endurance Championship programme, announced on 24 September 2026 the launch of the GMR Esports Series, run in partnership with the official WEC video game Le Mans Ultimate and sim racing media outlet Traxion. The series is designed to identify new sim racing talent, with the eventual winner earning a place within the official GMR Esports team.
The competition began with an eight-week qualifying phase starting 6 October 2026, run through Le Mans Ultimate's Online Championship tab, with competitors racing a different free-to-play circuit each week in the game's version of the GMR-001 Hypercar, the livery introduced in-game in April 2026 ahead of Genesis Magma Racing's real-world WEC debut. Each driver's best six of eight qualifying results count toward progression.
The top 20 global drivers and top 10 Korean-registered drivers advance to the main GMR Esports Series, set to begin in December 2026 and comprising four races, three sprints and a two-hour endurance event, to determine who joins the manufacturer-backed team. The programme deepens an existing relationship between Genesis Magma Racing and Le Mans Ultimate, which has become a focal point for endurance-focused sim racing since its release.
Structured talent pathways of this kind are increasingly relevant to African sim racers, who often have far greater access to competitive esports platforms than to physical circuits or budgets for car racing, making virtual series a realistic route into manufacturer programmes.
Source: Hyundai Motorsport (Genesis Magma Racing newsroom).
Original source: Hyundai Motorsport — https://motorsport.hyundai.com/media-center/news/2026/wec/genesis-magma-racing-launches-official-esports-series-with-le-mans-ultimate
Back to racing ↗