Chatin “Pleasantly Surprised” by Genesis’ Aero

Genesis Magma Racing driver Paul-Loup Chatin was “pleasantly surprised” by how the GMR-001 Hypercar felt when he finally had the chance to drive the car for the first time in Qatar earlier this year.

Although Chatin was confirmed back in November as moving to Genesis for the manufacturer’s debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship this year, the Frenchman’s contract with Alpine meant he was unable to test his new machinery until January 1.

The team was particularly keen to get Chatin’s feedback because, like the Alpine A424 he piloted last year, the GMR-001 is based around an Oreca chassis spine and none of the other Genesis drivers had previous Oreca LMDh experience.

While Chatin said he was not surprised the manufacturer “had done a great job,” he was particularly impressed by the amount of downforce the car produced.

“The first feeling I had with the car was really good,” he told Sportscar365.

“It confirmed the car has good potential and I was quite surprised the car felt different compared to other Hypercars, but in a good way.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the downforce of the car and aero of the car, it looks strong.

“I really enjoyed it and it gave me a good amount of confidence to push in high-speed corners and medium-speed corners.  Compared to what I know, it was a good feeling.”

However, Chatin was reluctant to give a direct comparison between the GMR-001 and the A424 because he was not assessing like-for-like cars as Alpine is understood to have used one of its Evo jokers for this season to subtly improve the aero of its machine.

“You can see and feel the potential of the car and we’re only at the beginning and still have a lot of work ahead,” added Chatin.

He also cautioned that the January Qatar test featured optimum conditions and that the new season-opening round at Imola – with the Qatar event postponed amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East – would provide a sterner test.

Chatin did not want to be drawn on predictions for Genesis’ performance at the opening rounds, but he said reaching the checkered flag would be vital.

“If we lose one lap because of a small mistake then it will be one lap we miss for the future of the project,” he explained.

“Every lap, every corner, every moment on track will be key to the future and it’s really important we have a long-term view.

“There’s a lot of anticipation for everyone and a bit of pressure for everyone.

“When you’re in development, you’re alone on track most of the time. When we arrive at the first race, we have to face the music.”

Chatin also acknowledged that the vast majority of the development of the GMR-001 had been completed using the previous specification of Michelin tires, rather than the new rubber being introduced to the WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for this year.

“In Qatar we had the 2026 tires and of course other teams have more experience of the 2026 tires,” he said.

“In Qatar it was not day/night in terms of difference [between the compounds] – the window is a bit wider so it’s not a massive change in terms of performance of the tires.”