Genesis ‘Not Here to Upset System’ With Magma GT3

Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul says the manufacturer is “not here to start upsetting a system” after revealing a concept for an extreme GT3 car earlier this year.

The Magma GT3 Concept was unveiled at the 24 Hours of Le Mans amid the Hyundai Group assessing whether to develop a car for the popular GT3 category.

But the GT3 idea was unveiled prior to any existing road car equivalent, leading to concerns that it has not been created in the original spirit of the GT3 rules whereby cars were race versions of road-going machines that were already available.

This Magma GT3 Concept, along with the planned new Toyota GR GT3 and the Concept AMG GT Track Sport from Mercedes-AMG, led GT3 creator Stephane Ratel to raise serious concerns about the future of the category.

SRO Motorsports Group boss Ratel said in June that he feared GT3 would be “going straight to the wall” if manufacturers “design a car to the maximum of the regulations and you homologate it for the road,” describing that approach as GT1 not GT3.

Abiteboul said that Ratel’s comments make “complete sense” but is not concerned about the direction Genesis is taking should it decide to go ahead with the GT3 project.

“He knows what he’s talking about so I think his voice matters and it’s something that will inspire us as well,” Abiteboul added of Ratel.

“We don’t want to be too arrogant in our communications.

“Coming into a segment like [GT3], yes we want to do well, we want to do it at the right strategy and right level of execution, but equally we need to do things with a bit of humility.

“If we’re going into a segment like that, it’s not just to do a one-off, it would be the start of a long journey in which there could be different evolutions, different versions of the car.

“Before starting to say we’re going to create a race car for the road, let’s make sure we do the basics right and we’re not here to start upsetting a system.

“We’re very mindful of cost control, of customer support, reliability so our focus will be on making sure we get the basics right first for the production car and on the race car.”

Abiteboul stressed that no final decision has been taken about whether to develop a GT3 challenger.

“We’re taking a bit of time because we want to make sure that strategy and execution will be at a best-in-class level,” he said.

But Abiteboul did acknowledge that the GT3 arena was an eye-catching proposition for the Hyundai Group.

“What we want is to create an inspiring story for the customers, both on the road car and on the race car,” he explained. “We believe the regulations offer that opportunity right now.

“It looks to me there’s a good management of the performance as well so that’s why we’re very attracted by this platform.”

Abiteboul was also reluctant to discuss any firm timeline for a GT3 car hitting the track should the green light be given, merely saying “you’re talking about years” to develop a new car.

Details about the Magma GT3 Concept were very limited when it was unveiled at Le Mans with Genesis merely describing it as having taken a “performance first” approach with the design.