Daniel Juncadella: "Tertre Rouge is a really cool corner"

Next weekend (13/14 June) marks the start of the 2026 edition of the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. Genesis will be taking part in the great endurance classic on the French Sarthe for the first time. This is a brand from the Hyundai Group. Two Genesis GMR-001 hypercars have been registered. Paul-Loup Chatin, Mathieu Jaminet and Daniel Juncadella share the driving duties in one of them. Juncadella in particular is well known in Germany for his time in the DTM and strong performances in GT3 racing.

The Spaniard raced a Corvette in the LMGT3 class at Le Mans in 2024 and 2025. "It has been my dream for years to drive in the top class at Le Mans," he says, looking ahead to his hypercar debut at Le Mans this year. "I actually don't have that much experience as a driver at Le Mans yet. I've driven there in the LMGT3 class for the last two years. But I also know the track from countless laps in sim racing. I hope that my debut in the top class this year will be the first year of many more."

The 13.626-kilometre circuit in Le Mans has a very special character. Around two thirds of the circuit is on country roads (specially closed off for the race). "I particularly like the first sector. There are lots of little tricks that you can find and then use," says Juncadella. "The Tertre Rouge in particular, where it goes onto the long straight, is a really cool corner."

The Genesis team in particular will have a lot of work to do in practice during the race week, as the brand's Le Mans debut means that it does not really have any experience of the circuit. "The track requires a very special set-up. You have to be fast on the straights. But there are also many fast corners where you have to rely on the aerodynamics," explains Juncadella. "We are very good in terms of downforce. Now we have to see how we compare with the others on the straights."

Juncadella confident in terms of stability

Reliability is always a major issue in the first 24-hour race for any racing car. This has been impressively demonstrated in the past. "I think we're looking pretty good in terms of stability," says the Spaniard with little concern in this regard. "One of our first tests last year was in Portimão. Even then, we drove for 16 hours without any problems - and that was when the car was still really young. And after that, of course, we had other good endurance tests. So I am confident."

With a total of 18 hypercars from eight manufacturers, the competition at Le Mans is strong. Top dogs like Ferrari and Toyota are the big favourites going into the race. Newcomers (like Genesis now) usually need some time to be able to achieve the really big successes at Le Mans. Juncadella is also aware of this - which is why he does not want to commit to an exact desired result for the 2026 edition. "I don't want to focus too much on the result this year. Because the result also depends on a lot of things that are beyond our control - such as reliability or incidents on the race track," he clarifies. "My performance is important to me. If I think I've performed well and given one hundred per cent, then I'll go home happy from Le Mans. It would certainly be a great success if we could see the chequered flag with both cars and complete as many laps as possible."