Derani: Genesis Has ‘Climbed Mount Everest’ to be Ready

Genesis Magma Racing driver Pipo Derani says the manufacturer has ‘climbed Mount Everest’ to be ready for its FIA World Endurance Championship debut at Imola this weekend.

The South Korean brand only announced its intention to construct a Hypercar for the upcoming WEC season in September 2024 and has since built a team from the ground up in that time alongside developing the GMR-001 LMDh car.

Derani is one of two drivers, with Andre Lotterer, to have been involved in the development of the ORECA-chassied prototype from its early stages and is now relishing the chance to experience the GMR-001 in a race environment.

“It’s very exciting – at times it feels like it was yesterday when I took on the challenge,” Derani told Sportscar365. “Other times you realize it’s a year and a half since I joined.

“When you look back at this mountain we had to climb to get to this point, it was like Mount Everest – if not bigger.

“To be finally heading to our first race, regardless of the result, it feels like a massive achievement as a group to have gone from nothing to a proper race team. It’s very exciting and it’s going to be nice to be there and actually get to live out what was a dream.”

Derani has described the GMR-001 as being a “good, solid base” but is unsure of what the car’s ultimate performance will be at the Imola opener.

However, he insists the main focus is to complete as many laps as possible and continue to gain a better understanding of the Genesis machine.

“We’re still in a development phase heading into the first race,” Derani explained. “We’re humble and know we’ve got quite a lot of work to do yet.

“We’re not really thinking about ultimate performance but making sure we hit the targets we set ourselves and can have a really polished first race weekend.

“By that I mean achieving the basics right, making sure they’re done properly and not just in terms of performance but more operationally.

“If we finish the race on the lead lap, if we finish in the top 10, it would be an amazing achievement for us.

“We’re entering with that mindset of making sure we tick the boxes we need to tick and, if we do that, results will fall into place. Trying to avoid silly mistakes and distractions will be key.”

Derani said that Genesis’ pre-season preparations were “going well” even if it won’t be able to take advantage of the direct data from a three-day Qatar test in January until later in the year after the original opening event at the Lusail International Circuit was postponed until October amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

“We still wish we had another ten days on track before the first weekend,” Derani admitted when asked about the testing schedule.

“There’s a lot of anticipation within the group to see where we stack up against the others. We’re looking forward to being on track with other cars.”