Jacob Bellamy has continued his remarkable start to the 2026 North Island Endurance Series, producing another commanding drive to win Round 2 at Hampton Downs after a dramatic and constantly evolving one-hour race.
The young Lamborghini Huracan driver started from pole position after setting the fastest lap in qualifying with a 1:08.365, narrowly ahead of Matt Whittaker’s Porsche 911 GT3, which lined up alongside on the front row after a 1:10.003 effort.
Francois Beziac and Sam Cotterill occupied the second row in Porsche machinery, while Simon Gilbertson and the McLaren 570S of Hamish Fraser and Oliver Saxton shared row three.
Conditions at Hampton Downs were slippery when the race got underway, and Whittaker wasted no time making his move. Charging into Turn 1 on the opening lap, the Porsche driver out-braked Bellamy and emerged with the lead as the field carefully negotiated the damp surface.
Behind them, Sam Cotterill immediately moved forward into third after getting the jump on Beziac, while Gilbertson settled into fourth. Further back, Marco Holtrigter established an early Class 2 lead in his Porsche 997, while Toby Elmiger headed the Class 4 runners ahead of pole sitter Nathan Grammar.
The opening laps quickly settled into a fascinating rhythm. Up front, Whittaker and Bellamy traded fastest sectors as they edged away from the chasing pack, while Cotterill and Gilbertson became locked in a close battle over third place. Gilbertson, after his defensive performance at Taupo in Round 1, was this time the aggressor, constantly applying pressure to the rear of Cotterill’s Porsche.
Four laps in, Whittaker’s lead stood at just 0.391 seconds over Bellamy, while Cotterill had already slipped more than 10 seconds behind the leading pair. Gilbertson, Beziac, Glenn Cotterill, Grant Biggar, Fraser and Saxton, Holtrigter and the McLaren Artura of Wei Zhou and Josh Bethune completed the top 10.
The fight for the lead turned decisively on Lap 6. Bellamy drew alongside Whittaker in a drag race down toward Turn 1 and made a bold move under brakes to reclaim the lead. Once the Lamborghini had clear air ahead, Bellamy immediately began to stretch away, finding grip and pace that no one else could match.
Within a lap he had pulled out more than a second, although traffic briefly allowed Whittaker to close the margin back down again. Sam Cotterill remained comfortably in third but continued to lose touch with the front two, while Gilbertson maintained pressure from fourth.
By Lap 13, Bellamy had extended the lead to more than three seconds and appeared increasingly comfortable as conditions slowly improved.
The complexion of the race changed again once the compulsory pit window opened 20 minutes into the event. Zhou and Bethune were the first to pit, followed quickly by Biggar, Bellamy and Grammar. That left Whittaker in clean air at the front, and the Porsche driver took full advantage, pushing hard in an attempt to build enough of a margin before his own stop.
The strategy initially looked promising. Whittaker reeled off consecutive personal best laps, including a 1:09.511, which became the fastest lap of the race at that stage despite remaining on wet tyres.
Having switched to slicks as the circuit dried, the Lamborghini driver returned to the track and unleashed a stunning 1:06.680 lap, instantly underlining how quickly the conditions were evolving. It was several seconds faster than Whittaker’s benchmark and effectively swung the race back in Bellamy’s favour.
Whittaker eventually made his stop with 31 minutes remaining, handing the lead back to Bellamy as the field cycled through the pit sequence. Glenn Cotterill was the final driver to pit, rejoining with just over 26 minutes left on the clock.
A battle between Whittaker and Beziac ended in contact on the back straight, with Beziac spinning at Turn 1 after the pair touched while fighting for position. Whittaker’s Porsche suffered damage in the incident and came to a halt near the entrance to Turn 2 under the bridge, ending what had been a strong run.
As recovery crews moved in, Gilbertson also spun at Turn 1 and briefly blocked the pit exit while trying to recover safely. Officials responded by deploying the safety car, erasing Bellamy’s advantage and bunching the field back together for a tense final sprint.
When racing resumed with 16 minutes remaining, Bellamy immediately disappeared up the road.
As the track continued to dry, the Lamborghini driver’s pace became extraordinary. He fired in a 1:04.430 lap shortly after the restart, while the next fastest driver, Gilbertson, could only manage a 1:08.437. Within only a handful of laps, Bellamy had built a lead of more than 16 seconds.
Behind him, Sam Cotterill held second place while Glenn Cotterill closed in behind, setting up a battle between the brothers for the remaining podium positions. David Rogers had also moved into the Class 3 lead, ahead of Fraser and Saxton, while Grammar emerged at the front of Class 4 after the pit cycle. Bellamy, though, was in another category entirely.
With just over six minutes remaining, he lowered the benchmark again with a 1:04.057 before delivering an astonishing 1:02.790 lap. At only 18 years old, Bellamy looked completely at ease as conditions transformed from wet to dry, extracting pace from the Lamborghini that no one else in the field could approach.
By the closing stages, his lead had grown beyond 30 seconds, turning what had earlier been a close contest into another dominant display following his Round 1 victory at Taupo.
Bellamy eventually crossed the line 36.4 seconds clear of Sam Cotterill, with Glenn Cotterill completing the podium in third after a composed and consistent drive through the changing conditions.
Gilbertson finished fourth ahead of Brent Forman, Beziac, Biggar, Holtrigter, Rogers and Fraser and Saxton, who rounded out the top 10 overall.
Holtrigter claimed Class 2 honours, Rogers secured victory in Class 3, and Grammar took the Class 4 win.
The North Island Endurance Series now heads to Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon on June 12-13 for the third and final round, with Bellamy carrying enormous momentum and looking every bit the driver to beat.
Header Image: Chelsea Karl
