Jaminet: Genesis “Better Than Expected” Ahead of Le Mans

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Mathieu Jaminet believes Genesis Magma Racing is in a “better than expected” position for the first-year Hypercar outfit ahead of its debut in next weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The Frenchman, who joined the South Korean brand’s first-ever sports car racing program from a three-year stint with Porsche Penske Motorsport, believes the outfit has built a strong foundation in both the ORECA-chassied LMDh car and organization following two FIA World Endurance Championship rounds.

Coming off an eighth place finish for its sister car in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Jaminet feels they’re heading in a very good direction.

“I think we’re better than expected, if I’m very, very honest,” he told Sportscar365. “I don’t know if I should say that. But honestly, the team has done a really good job in terms of preparation.

“I think a lot of people have seen that in Imola and Spa. So far we seem pretty sorted.

“We’re still early days with our DIL (driver in the loop) and simulation tools and so on. It’s not like we have a huge background where we can trust in simulation and arrive prepared.

“The guys have done an amazing job. We put the car on the ground in Spa and we were straight in the mix.

“Especially on the long run pace, we’re good. I think on single lap we still have to work a bit. But in terms of degradation and long-run pace, we have seen things [at Spa] that we didn’t see in Imola.

“We seem to be a step ahead and getting closer and closer. It’s very positive the way it goes.”

Jaminet said the big surprise since joining the program has been the car itself, in what he believes sets them up for a strong future.

“The good surprise is that since Day 1 when I joined, the car, every time we put it on the ground, it seems to be in a decent operating window,” he said.

“I came from a car that was always a bit of a fight. There was a lot of lap time in it but it was sometimes a handful to actually make it work.

“We improved that over the years. But for so early in the program, it’s actually impressed me to have this capacity of going from track to track and the testing we did, and every time I jump in, we don’t seem too far off at a start.

“That’s very positive and confirms that our base chassis and aero concept and everything has been really well done.

“For sure there are things that can be improved, I think on the systems and software side, there are also some surprises, sometimes a bit more negative. But this is how it goes.

“We have a group that is not hugely experienced on that side and we keep on working and I can see we keep on making progress. We just need time.”

Another gain has come with the diversity of its driver lineup, which Jaminet believes is also a benefit.

“I think we all have different roles between us,” he explained.

“There’s very different profiles with Paul-Loup [Chatin] coming from another manufacturer, I also came from another [LMDh] manufacturer. Pipo [Derani] and Andre [Lotterer] have been there from the start but they haven’t raced the last year.

“Having raced the last year, I know how some of the other manufacturers have progressed. The one I was in, we did, so I think they also missed on their side some of the progress that people in the paddock have made here and there.

“It was good to get this fresh feedback from Paul-Loup and myself. Then it’s actually good to have feedback from Mathys [Jaubert], a young kid, but driving extremely well and coming in from more GT ideas from Cup car and a bit of LMP2 experience.

“Dani [Juncadella] is hugely experienced and it’s more the experience back from F1 or his DTM days. The cars are not so far away of how they drive.

“We’re trying to use the experience of a bit of everyone and the engineers are trying to lead the development and try to build the plan for the next steps in the future.”

Genesis Targeting ‘Clean’ Le Mans Debut

While Jaimet’s No. 19 Genesis encountered multiple issues in last month’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, including electrical and power steering gremlins, the Frenchman is hopeful that the team could focus on having as flawless of a Le Mans debut as possible.

The team is coming off an endurance test at Paul Ricard last month.

“We should set the same targets [as the first two races],” he said. “Nothing replaces 24 hours of racing. We are preparing ourselves. We are doing endurance testing and so on.

“But Le Mans shows a bit of who goes to the end or not. I think this should be the target, have a clean race. If we have some performance, for sure try to fight.

“If we can go for a top-ten, a top-seven, top-eight, whatever it is, we will go for it.

“If we are a little on the back foot, we’re still going to push and try to see the finish and take the maximum learning going into the next year, 2027, where we will hope to have a Le Mans which will be way more competitive than being a newcomer.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John