The Genesis’ presence on the race track was unforgettable. From the outside, its hospitality building was quite simple, painted black with small Genesis logos, although at three stories high it was larger than the nearby Ford, Aston Martin, Toyota and Ferrari buildings. It was located just before the entrance to the pit lane. From the building, there was a view down the final straight and great sight lines to the last few corners, with viewing decks on all three floors. Inside, the place was beautiful and quiet, with plenty of places to sit, eat, and watch the race on TV or through the windows.
The branding of the Magma Racing team is amazing. The square-triangle-square logo is a stylization of the Korean letters for MGM (“Magma”), and the all black and orange team kits and merchandise were simple and luxurious. Le Mans was the first time the team was racing with an orange gradient livery instead of greyscale on the cars. The gradient Doppler effect symbolizes speed and heat, and features the Korean letters for Magma spread throughout the bodywork, a pattern also found on all branding. In addition to the 400-ish media that Genesis had invited (some of whom wore swag on race day), there were plenty of its own employees at the race, all decked out in team colors, and there were apparently a large number of fans in the crowd as well. Standing out in a field of flashy costumes and apparel can be difficult, but both the Genesis team and its fans did it.
In the publicly accessible Manufacturers Village, most of the automakers with cars in the races had large auto show-like stands, selling various vehicles and merchandise, as well as activations and activities. Toyota had the GT-One on display, which was incredible to see, and I’m not sorry to miss seeing the Ferrari Luce. The Genesis building there was once again huge, and cooler and shady than the other buildings. Inside were an electrified GV70, a long-wheelbase electrified G80, and a full-scale model of the GMR-001, but everyone was looking at the Magma GT3 concept that was revealed the night before.
I didn’t buy any Genesis stuff, although a lot of people did. Nor did I buy the Peugeot E-208 GTi shoes, which former jalop Alanis King called shoegiotes. No, I spent my hard-earned euros at Michelin’s huge booth on a bunch of Bibendum things, like a cool trucker hat and an absolutely sick bomber jacket. The official Le Mans sales were also pretty killer, and in general, it was hard to find someone in the crowd who wasn’t mimicking the automotive sales in some way, whether it was a full outfit, a hat or bag, or a flag being waved around.
