Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme drivers Jamie Chadwick, Laurents Hörr and Valerio Rinicella scored a top five at Barcelona to begin the ELMS season.
The Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme line-up of Jamie Chadwick, Laurents Hörr and Valerio Rinicella started their 2026 European Le Mans Series season with a strong fourth place at the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
Driving trio avoid issues on debut together
Reprising her role from the 2025 event, Chadwick drove the first stint of the four-hour race, starting the IDEC Sport-run #18 Oreca 07 from the fourth place secured by Hörr during Saturday’s Qualifying session, when he delivered two strong laps in his second run under pressure after having his first flying lap deleted due to track limits.
Though she lost some spots on the initial start, she had made all the ground back through a combination of strategy, on track overtakes and avoiding the issues that afflicted several other teams in the opening stint, putting her year’s worth of LMP2 experience to excellent use. Hörr took over the car, continuing to push for a podium, climbing as high as third place as he had to negotiate multiple Virtual Safety Car or Full Course Yellow interruptions. In contrast, during Rinicella’s stint – taking the car for the final hour to the chequered flag – the pace amongst the leaders was relentless.
Despite taking on new tyres to begin his stint and left-side tyres at his final stop with 22 minutes remaining, he was unable to follow his rivals through the congestion of slower traffic to maintain the push for the podium. However, he was able to avoid contact and problems, an accomplishment that showed its value on the final lap when he took fourth position from another driver limping to the line with a damaged car.
The weekend also brought together all five drivers included in the Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme for the first time. The trio of LMP2 drivers were joined by Koreans Michael Shin and Kyuho Lee, who compete in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and GB3 Championship respectively. The two single-seater drivers were able to experience qualifying and the race inside the IDEC Sport garage, immersing themselves in the event.
Post Race Quotes – #18 IDEC Sport Oreca 07
Jamie Chadwick said: “The start of the race was a little bit tricky, but then I managed to claw back a couple of positions. I think the stint was OK; we double stinted the tyres, which seemed to work quite well when the Virtual Safety Car came out. It was a little bit tricky, but we were in the fight, which was the main thing. We had positive progression throughout the weekend. I think we would have taken P4 at the beginning of the week, to be honest. With how we were running in that race, you always want more, but still, we can be really positive. The team did a great job. No mistakes, no errors and same for my team-mates and I think it’s a really good foundation for the rest of the year. We need to keep working and targeting the top-five. Le Castellet is a home race for the team. I think we can go well there, so aim for another top-five there and hopefully we can go one higher to get onto the podium – let’s see.”
Laurents Hörr said: “It was a long stint. It was not easy because we all had fresh tyres and everybody was really pushing the whole time. I was really happy with the first stint, and in the second stint everybody was pushing a little bit more and I just didn’t have the grip of the first set of tyres anymore. It’s certainly a bit different in the main LMP2 class after coming from Pro-Am line-ups for many years. In the pro ranks, you can just push a lot harder together with your team-mates, and you can push with the car set-up more, which was very pleasant for me. Overall, we have a great team ambience inside the Trajectory Programme, but also with the IDEC Sport team, and its great fun, and finishing fourth is a great start to the season, with much more to come.”
Valerio Rinicella said: “It was a hard stint for me, with only two tyres on the left, which were a bit hard to warm up. I think I lost a little bit of time to other guys [because of this]. The pace was OK, but not enough for P1, so I just tried to do my best. We fought for the podium until the end, but it’s endurance racing, so it was hard for me to manage everything as this is the first race for me. I think with the traffic, sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you get unlucky. It’s just about position, and maybe half a second can cost you two positions, or maybe you can gain two positions in just five tenths. It’s a lot about managing risk, being lucky and being in a good position. I have five races to go so I have time to work on it. In single seaters, you don’t have this issue, you just push and you try to overtake the car in front. Here there are a lot of things to do, managing and following a target lap time, fuel and traffic as well.”
Genesis Magma Racing Sporting Director Gabriele Tarquini said:
For the new season, the Genesis Magma Racing Trajectory Programme has a tighter focus on driver development, but in the European Le Mans Series our goals remain the same. We are not targeting race wins, but want to give the drivers the opportunity to gain experience, with the potential for them to join the Genesis Magma Racing line-up. For Jamie, Laurents and Valerio to begin 2026 with a top five finish is very encouraging. It was their first race together with the IDEC Sport team, Laurents first in the Pro class and Valerio’s first in the championship, with so many new challenges to face. Each driver gave a good individual performance, with the consistency that is essential in endurance racing and can take away important lessons for their next race in the championship.