Daniel Juncadella admits error as Genesis falters in Barcelona WEC

Daniel Juncadella expressed regret for his early mistake that caused the #19 Genesis GMR-001 to fall to the back of the pack in the World Endurance Championship's Barcelona 6 Hours. Competing as home hero, Juncadella began the race with a strong launch from third on the grid, overtaking Toyota's Sebastien Buemi and fellow Genesis driver Andre Lotterer to seize the lead going into Turn 1.

However, after rain left the track wet and unpredictable, Juncadella went off track at Turn 5, dropping to 16th place, just ahead of the #35 Alpine, which had been involved in an earlier incident. Despite two early safety car periods allowing him to climb back into the top 10 by the end of the first hour, the pace of the Korean manufacturer fell short as conditions dried. Juncadella, along with teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Paul-Loup Chatin, finished the race in 11th place, a full lap behind the race-winning #8 Toyota TR010 Hybrid driven by Buemi, Ryo Hirakawa, and Brendon Hartley.

After the race, the 35-year-old driver took responsibility for his error, expressing disappointment over missing his opportunity for points this season. "F***ed that one up," he said. "Sorry to the team. It was a difficult race with several setbacks, but we move on. It’s a frustrating result for sure; there are a lot of areas we need to analyse. Personally, it was just a bad day. I made a good start and was looking good for the first four corners but misjudged the grip and braking point, going from first to last, which was very annoying. We were really strong in the wet and made our way back to P8, but once it dried out, we weren’t as competitive as we liked. Several small issues during the race caused us to fall back. Despite losing a lap, we almost made the points, but it wasn’t meant to be."

Genesis had a promising start during Saturday’s qualifying session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as Mathys Jaubert secured the brand’s first Hypercar pole position in the #17 GMR-001 while Jaminet qualified third in the sister car.

Unfortunately, Genesis's race deteriorated within the first hour, with both entries failing to contend for points. Lotterer dropped from first to third shortly after the start, hampered further by a traction control issue. After a wide moment that dropped him to 14th, he received a drive-through penalty for a full-course infringement, leaving the #17 Genesis he shared with Jaubert and Pipo Derani a lap behind the leaders.

Genesis’s chief engineer, Justin Taylor, acknowledged that the Barcelona event revealed significant lessons for the team in the Hypercar category, emphasizing the importance of this experience in their ongoing development. "It was a character-building day for everyone involved, from drivers to engineers and mechanics. With the single-lap pace we showed yesterday, our race expectations were high, but clearly, we still have a lot to learn. We faced technical issues that cost us too much time, and this is part of the learning process as we prepare for better results at Monza."