The 2026 North Island Endurance Series roared into life at Taupo International Motorsport Park with a dramatic and action-packed opening one-hour endurance race, where 18-year-old Jacob Bellamy delivered a statement performance to claim a dominant victory.
Qualifying saw Bellamy waste no time stamping his authority on the field. Driving the #83 Lamborghini Huracán, Bellamy completed just five laps before producing a blistering 1:26.203 to secure pole position for the opening race of the season.
Alongside him on the front row was Matt Whittaker in the Porsche GT3, who clocked a 1:27.379 to secure second on the grid.
Across the remaining classes, Brady Wild claimed Class 2 pole in the #40 Holden Commodore with a 1:29.639, while the #24 McLaren shared by Oliver Saxton and Hamish Fraser secured Class 3 pole courtesy of a 1:32.573 lap.
Toby Elmiger claimed top honours in Class 4 aboard the #74 Toyota 86 with a 1:40.523, and Marcel Bartley rounded out the pole sitters by securing Class 5 pole in the #67 Toyota 86 with a 1:46.060.
During the lunch break, the weather turned dramatically as heavy rain swept across Taupō. By race time, the circuit had largely dried, though damp patches remained scattered around the track, leaving teams and drivers with difficult decisions heading into the opening hour of racing.
When the lights went out, Nick Chester launched superbly from the second row in the #14 Holden Commodore, immediately challenging Whittaker into Turn 1. The pair ran side-by-side before Whittaker edged ahead by the entry to Turn 2.
By Turns 6 and 7, Whittaker and Chester had already broken clear of the field, while Bellamy slipped back to third during the opening exchanges. Simon Gilbertson settled into fourth, with Sam Cotterill rounding out the top five after the opening lap.
Early on, the battle at the front intensified. Whittaker, Chester and Bellamy were covered by just 1.4 seconds, while Gilbertson sat 3.7 seconds behind Bellamy in fourth.
Further down the field, Brady Wild controlled Class 2, while Hamish Fraser led Class 3 in the #24 McLaren, defending heavily from Wei Zhou in the #66 McLaren Artura. Nathan Grammer held the lead in Class 4, and Marcel Bartley controlled Class 5.
By Lap 4, Bellamy had begun his charge back to the front. The young driver set the fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.225 while reducing the gap to Whittaker to just eight tenths of a second.
One lap later, the margin had shrunk to only 0.344 seconds. Bellamy launched an attack at Turn 12, Taupō’s premier overtaking opportunity, but Whittaker produced a defensive masterclass, forcing Bellamy wide and retaining the lead.
Meanwhile, in Class 3, Fraser and Zhou were locked in a fierce battle for the class lead, while David Rogers and David Cranna made contact between Turns 3 and 4 during their fight for third in class on Lap 6. Rogers emerged ahead following the incident. Bellamy’s relentless pressure finally paid off on Lap 8.
Heading once again into Turn 12, Bellamy launched another attack on Whittaker. This time, the move stuck cleanly, and the Lamborghini stormed into the race lead just 14 minutes into the contest. From there, Bellamy immediately broke clear.
Within a single lap, he had stretched the margin to 2.8 seconds over Whittaker. Chester remained third but had fallen 17.6 seconds behind the Porsche.
Twenty minutes into the race, the compulsory pit window opened, and strategy immediately came into play.
David Cranna was among the first to pit in the #54 McLaren, and soon a flood of frontrunners followed. Whittaker, Simon Gilbertson, Sam Cotterill and Nick Chester all dived into pit lane early.
In Class 3, Wei Zhou handed the #66 McLaren Artura over to Josh Bethune, while Hamish Fraser later pitted from third overall to hand the #24 McLaren to Oliver Saxton.
Bellamy elected to stay out slightly longer before making his stop three minutes after the pit window opened, rejoining still firmly in control.
Brady Wild also ran deeper into the window before pitting six minutes after it opened, briefly inheriting track position before Bellamy reclaimed the overall lead during the pit cycle. When the stops had settled, Bellamy maintained a commanding 7.4-second lead over Whittaker.
The pit cycle proved costly for Chester, however, who dropped to eighth and went a lap down. As the race entered its second half, Bellamy simply disappeared into the distance.
Twenty-two laps in, with 26 minutes remaining, Bellamy fired in a 1:29.338 lap compared to Whittaker’s 1:30.414 — over a second faster. Whittaker briefly responded with a marginally quicker lap on the following tour, but Bellamy’s consistency and outright pace proved untouchable.
Behind them, Gilbertson ran comfortably in third despite sitting more than a minute off the lead, while Cotterill remained fourth and steadily closed the gap. Josh Bethune now led Class 3 after taking over from Wei Zhou and sat seventh overall, ahead of Oliver Saxton and David Rogers in the class battle.
Toby Elmiger continued to lead Class 4, while Marcel Bartley remained in control of Class 5. With 18 minutes remaining, Bellamy’s advantage had ballooned to over 10 seconds, and he soon began lapping traffic — including third-placed Gilbertson.
Bellamy’s performance was made even more remarkable by the fact that the teenager had completed no practice running earlier in the day and still secured pole after just five qualifying laps. Further back, the fight for the final podium position exploded into life.
With under six minutes remaining, Sam Cotterill began an aggressive charge toward Gilbertson’s third place. The gap rapidly tumbled from 6.9 seconds to 3.2 seconds in a single lap, before shrinking again to just 1.4 seconds the next time around.
Then, with barely a minute remaining, the gap was down to only two-tenths of a second. Gilbertson defended desperately, refusing to yield as Cotterill filled his mirrors all the way to the chequered flag. At the front, there was no stopping Bellamy.
The Lamborghini crossed the line to win the opening race of the 2026 season by a massive 20.554 seconds over Whittaker after a flawless drive in mixed conditions. Behind them, Gilbertson survived Cotterill’s relentless late attack to secure third place by just three tenths of a second in one of the closest battles of the race.
Brady Wild completed the overall top five while also taking victory in Class 2.
In Class 3, Josh Bethune and Wei Zhou claimed top honours with seventh overall, while Hamish Fraser and Oliver Saxton finished second in class and ninth overall. David Rogers secured the final Class 3 podium position by completing the top 10 overall.
Toby Elmiger claimed victory in Class 4 with a 12th-place finish overall, while Nathan Grammer secured second in class. Marcel Bartley rounded out the class winners by taking victory in Class 5 with a 15th-place finish.
The North Island Endurance Series now heads to Hampton Downs Motorsport Park on 22–23 May for Round 2 of the 2026 championship.
Header Image: Jessica Barnes/Blissful Photography
