Tarquini “Pushed” for Jaubert Genesis Hypercar Seat

Genesis Magma Racing sporting director Gabriele Tarquini says he “personally pushed” to have Mathys Jaubert as part of the manufacturer’s lineup for its debut FIA World Endurance Championship campaign this year despite his lack of experience.

While the likes of Genesis recruits Andre Lotterer, Matthieu Jaminet and Pipo Derani have a wealth of prototype titles to their name and will play a pivotal role in developing the GMR-001, Jaubert was an eye-catching inclusion in the Hypercar lineup as he will also be making his WEC debut.

The Frenchman was selected off the back of a successful European Le Mans Series season last year when part of Genesis’ ‘Trajectory Program’ for his maiden LMP2 attack.

Alongside Jamie Chadwick and fellow Genesis Hypercar recruit Dani Juncadella, the trio were unexpectedly in title contention until the final round, scored three wins and ended up third in the final standings.

Those performances meant Sportscar365 selected Jaubert as its Rookie of the Year award winner.

When Sportscar365 asked at the end of last year what convinced tin-top racing great and ex-Formula 1 driver Tarquini that Jaubert was ready for the promotion, he said: “I was very, very close this season to the LMP2 races.

“I’d never met Mathys before, we met each other at the first race at Barcelona at the first race of the ELMS.

“He surprised me, like everybody. He was the rookie driver of the year.

“He always drove fast, good pace – in traffic, alone, on the restart – and for me I pushed a lot to have him in our lineup.

“For some people, he was not ready, [and said] we’re rookies and we need experience.

“I was not the only one on this target [signing Jaubert to the Hypercar program] but for me he’s ready.

“Despite his age, he has experience enough and the speed. The thing that surprised me was no mistakes at all during the whole season – that’s not usual for a 20-year-old man and driver.”

Tarquini may be new to the world of endurance racing but he is used to overseeing drivers through his previous role as team manager at the BRC Racing Team touring car squad.

He explained that when selecting the 2026 Genesis Hypercar roster he wanted a “very good mix between experience, youth and speed/performance.”

“The first two drivers [signed] come from one need because starting from scratch you need a very experienced driver,” said Tarquini.

“Andre was the first one and I think was the best option on the market. Pipo was also a good choice because his experience is very good and he’s a winning driver.

“We need some of them [experienced drivers] to start because we are new, we are rookies, we don’t have a lot of experience.

“I then personally pushed to have Mathys in the team because, even if he’s very young and not a long experience in the past, we need this sort of enthusiasm.

“Because we’re rookies everything is new to us and you feel this enthusiasm around the car, around the team and we want to also use this enthusiasm on the lineup.”