Lotterer Praises GMR-001 Handling “From the First Go”

Three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Andre Lotterer says he was impressed with the initial feeling of how the new Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar handled when testing first began last year, especially compared with the early days of the Porsche 963 he raced in the past.

Lotterer was announced in December 2024 as being part of Genesis’ entry to the FIA World Endurance Championship for 2026 and therefore has played a crucial role in the development of its Hypercar contender.

Having previously undertaken a similar role with the Porsche 963 in 2022, with the car powering Lotterer to the WEC drivers’ title two years later, he reckoned the GMR-001 offered a more encouraging platform from which to improve.

“It started, chassis and aero-wise, on a much higher level as a base from what we had on the 963,” Lotterer revealed at a Genesis Barcelona test at the end of last year.

“It took almost two years for the 963 to feel good in terms of aero and mechanical and damping. The car was off for a while, and it then finally got to something.

“Here, from the first go, I don’t know if it’s quick, but feeling-wise, everything feels quite healthy the way the car reacts to feedback. That for me was a very positive and happy environment.

“From my previous experiences, I’m finding again a very intuitive and instinctive driving feel in the car, which I missed a bit in the last couple of years, so this is very motivating, but it’s not everything.”

Despite being encouraged by the way the car feels, Lotterer has still cautioned that Genesis has a long way to go to get on terms with the established Hypercar squads.

He therefore says the team has not set any ambitious targets in terms of results for the rookie campaign.

“The biggest thing where we will need to catch up the most is the whole optimization around the software to get as close as possible to all the limits of the regulations, how they control the power and the torque sensors and all these tricks that come step by step,” he explained.

“We’re fully aware of all the topics but they don’t come from one day to the other but I think we have the right ingredients.”

Lotterer was among the drivers to sample the GMR-001 when it hit the track for the very first time in August.

Since then, tests have been held at a variety of European tracks, before the team headed to Asia at the start of this year.

Lotterer said that engine systems and drivability had been the key areas of improvement since that first shakedown.

“At the beginning we had a bit of a turbo lag, which they managed to understand and to compensate,” he said when Sportscar365 asked about how the car developed during 2025. “Mostly in terms of drivability.”

Lotterer was also relieved not to encounter any major reliability issues during the early stages of development.

“We had some [reliability issues] but no fundamental catastrophic ones, so this is already a good foundation to go to all the tests,” he said.