Round 1 of the 2026 North Island Endurance Series at Taupō International Motorsport Park delivered plenty of action to open the season, with 18-year-old Jacob Bellamy taking a commanding win in the #83 Lamborghini Huracán.
Bellamy impressed from the outset by claiming pole position despite completing no practice running earlier in the day, before recovering from a difficult opening lap to fight his way back to the front and pull clear in mixed conditions for a 20-second victory.
Matt Whittaker brought the Porsche GT3 home second after leading the early stages, while Simon Gilbertson held off heavy late pressure from Sam Cotterill to secure third place by just three tenths of a second.
Brady Wild claimed both a top-five overall finish and Class 2 victory, while Josh Bethune and Wei Zhou took Class 3 honours in the #66 McLaren Artura. Toby Elmiger and Marcel Bartley rounded out the class winners in Classes 4 and 5, respectively.
The series is now at Hampton Downs for Round 2, where a 17-car field is set to continue the early championship fight. With Bellamy carrying momentum from Taupō and several close battles already emerging across the classes, another competitive weekend is expected.
LIVE UPDATES FROM 12:25PM BELOW.
