Hyundai luxury brand to make Bathurst debut
01/06/2025 06:00 PM
A high-powered hybrid concept car from Genesis is set to make its first global on-track appearance at Mount Panorama with a previous Bathurst 1000 winner at the wheel.
The luxury arm of Hyundai – Genesis – will make its first official appearance at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, when a 1000hp-plus sports car concept laps the famous track with a previous winner at the wheel.
First shown in 2023, Genesis revealed the X Gran Berlinetta Concept in 2024 with a tribute livery to one of the greatest names in sports car racing, Belgian driver Jacky Ickx – who also co-drove a Ford Falcon to victory at Bathurst in 1977 with Allan Moffat.
Ickx – a six-time Le Mans 24 Hour and eight-time Formula One Grand Prix winner – will drive the Genesis concept in a series of hot laps during the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour event from 31 January to 3 February.
"I have long admired Mount Panorama at Bathurst as one of the world's great motor racing venues, and I can't wait to put the incredible Genesis X Gran Berlinetta through its paces for all the world to see," Ickx said in a media statement.
The X Gran Berlinetta Concept is an evolution of the X Gran Berlinetta Vision GT, which was not a physical car, but a digital concept created for the racing video game Gran Turismo 7.
Finished in blue paintwork with striking gold wheels – the colours of Ickx's racing helmet – the in-the-metal X Gran Berlinetta Concept features a mid-mounted 'Lambda II' V6 petrol engine and electric motor hybrid drivetrain making 799kW/1337Nm.
An orange version with silver and black wheels has been shown digitally.
Genesis has not speculated on a lap time after Ford set the outright record for a closed-wheel vehicle in an electric Ford Transit 'SuperVan 4.2' at the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour – with a McLaren Formula One car the only vehicle to have ever lapped the mountain circuit quicker.
Genesis will also demonstrate the GV60 Magma Concept electric SUV at the Bathurst 12 Hour, with a showroom-ready version going into production later this year and planned for Australian showrooms in 2026.
An update to the standard version of the 2025 Genesis GV60 SUV – the brand's first standalone electric model – is due to arrive in Australia in late 2025.
Magma – launched at the 2024 New York motor show – is the name of Genesis’ high-performance brand aimed at rivals such as Mercedes-AMG, BMW M and Audi Sport.
Shown in scorching trademark orange paintwork, the GV60 will launch the Magma sub-brand in Australia, with Genesis planning to introduce a Magma version of every model in its line-up – across petrol and electric cars.
The Bathurst promotion follows the announcement of the Genesis brand's entry into sports-car racing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) from 2026, and the IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) category in North America from 2027.
The WEC and IMSA competitions include a significant number of car makers racing, including Genesis showroom rivals Lexus, Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Cadillac, Aston Martin and Porsche, as well as Toyota, Peugeot and Chevrolet.
Ford races its Mustang sports car in the lower categories, but the brand Ickx won Bathurst with has also been rumoured to be considering a step into the top-tier 'Hypercar' WEC category in which Genesis will race.
Ford famously won the Le Mans race four years in a row from 1966, its first triumph the subject of the 2019 Oscar-winning movie, Ford v Ferrari.
Ickx won his first Le Mans driving a Ford GT40 with Brit Jackie Oliver in 1969 and posted his sixth victory in 1982 – a record standing until 2005 when Tom Kristensen won the seventh of his nine wins in the famous French race.
The 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour entry list includes motorcycle racing legend Valentino Rossi returning in a factory-backed BMW, as well as V8 Supercars drivers Chaz Mostert and Will Brown among an international field of drivers.
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