Genesis Magma Racing drivers score LMP2 win at European Le Mans Series debut in Barcelona
- Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory program drivers Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert, and Daniel Juncadella scored Le Mans Prototype 2 class victory at their debut together in European Le Mans Series
- Trio took IDEC Sport-run, Genesis Magma Racing-liveried car to second overall in historic result to start manufacturer’s time racing on track
- All three drivers played crucial role to secure result from four-hour race, with strategy, experience and race-craft all playing part
- Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul heralded “exemplary” performance by drivers and team to start season
BARCELONA, Spain, April 7, 2025 — Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory program drivers Jamie Chadwick and Mathys Jaubert, and Daniel Juncadella scored a stunning class win today on their debut in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. Chadwick, who completed a double stint to start the race, became the first female winner in the premier category of the championship, joining her teammates on the podium after Jaubert brought the car home second overall at the end of the four-hour season opener.
Strategy, Experience and Race-Craft Played a Role to Secure Victory
All three drivers in the #18 IDEC Sport-run Oreca 07 played a vital part on the path to the win — a historic start to the on-track presence of Genesis Magma Racing.
Jamie Chadwick started the car from the fifth place secured by Jaubert in Saturday’s qualifying session. By her own admission, Chadwick struggled in traffic through her double stint, particularly on the first time while the pack remained tightly bunched after the start. The team, including the race engineer who was one of nine staff from Genesis Magma Racing integrated into the IDEC Sport team for the weekend, began to focus on strategy, opting to extend Jamie’s second stint. Excellent work to stretch the fuel bought the team a crucial few laps, putting the team in the perfect position to pit during a Virtual Safety Car and vault up the order to fourth.
After the restart, Juncadella continued the progress, quickly moving up to second to cement the #18 car’s place among the front-runners. Also completing a double stint and having to retake second place, the Spainard and the team were able to take advantage of another Virtual Safety Car to pit for Mathys Jaubert to take over for the final 1:17 of the four-hour event.
In the midst of the tightly packed lead group, the 20-year-old Frenchman had to both defend and attack, taking advantage when the leader was held up by a GT car to make an opportunistic move into the penultimate corner to take the top spot. He held the position until half a lap from the checkered flag when a car from the LMP2 Pro-Am class, on far fresher tires than Jaubert, made the pass for the overall victory. Still, second overall and victory in the LMP2 class delivered a historic result to begin Genesis Magma Racing’s presence on the racetrack.
Post Race Quotes — #18 IDEC Sport Oreca 07
Jamie Chadwick said: “Starting off in this position is fantastic. I’m really impressed by the job that my two teammates and the IDEC Sport team with the execution of the strategy. It was incredible. I knew what we were doing with the strategy after my pace started to drop off, but I was thinking ‘we’ve missed the window now, we’re going to be way off’ and just as I got the fuel alarm the Virtual Safety Car came out. It couldn’t have been better timing. From a personal point of view, it doesn’t mean so much to be the first female winner in ELMS’ top class, but it’s great for the sport. That’s four female winners in ELMS today [with Iron Dames winning LMGT3]. I’m very proud to be a woman in motorsport today.”
Daniel Juncadella said: “I’m obviously over the moon with this result, it’s unreal. I didn’t come in with too many expectations to be fair. This is a new series for me, a new car, a new team. Winning at home in front of family and friends, it’s just unreal. My stint was great, I enjoyed it out there. I think I keep learning every time, learning new things and loving it. Jamie is making really good steps. She made an amazing start, then struggled a bit in the traffic, which is the hardest part of endurance racing, where she’s still inexperienced, but she kept her foot down. We got lucky with the VSC and then I gave the car in P2 to Mathys and he did just what he knows best. I think not many people know him yet, but what a little star he is. He gave us the first win. A great start to the ELMS season.”
Mathys Jaubert said: “What a result. I didn’t realize at the time but it’s so amazing for us and Genesis Magma Racing. A first race and a first win with three rookies in the car. My last stint was mega. After the Safety Car everyone was fighting, but it’s very, very hard to overtake, because when you are behind you have so much understeer in fast corners. So, you are just waiting with traffic and to take the opportunity to overtake. And this is what I did. A GT car blocked the leader, and I took the risk to overtake. I looked for the gap and I went for it. After that I had really good pace. Then it was just to manage the tires and fuel for the end. Unfortunately, one car had two new tires, but I knew that he was in a different class, so if I finished in front or behind him, we would take the points for the championship, so I didn’t block him too much.”
Genesis Magma Racing Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul said: “We couldn’t have wished for a better start to Genesis’ endurance adventure. The Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory program drivers delivered an exemplary, error-free race. The team provided them with a high-performance, reliable car, and a particularly inspired race strategy from their race engineer, who is one of the team members from Genesis Magma Racing integrated into IDEC Sport to learn about endurance racing. While this start is a good sign, we must remain realistic about the level of competition.”