Luis Beilicke has set new records for the most overall and rookie class victories in a single Ginetta GT Academy season after another superb performance across the season finale weekend at Brands Hatch (26-27 September).
Beilicke’s Brands Hatch success means he ends the year with 15 overall and 16 rookie victories to his name, eclipsing the previous bests set by Ravi Ramyead and Matt Shaw respectively. In the GTA class meanwhile, Joe Ostholthoff and Andrew Robinson shared the final wins of the campaign.
Qualifying
Rookie champion Beilicke (Want2Race) finished off his dominance of qualifying this season with another double pole position, securing him a total of 12 overall poles from 14 across the campaign. He finished 0.138s quicker than Robinson (E3 Sport), who set the GTA class pace for the second time in two sessions since joining the championship.
Fellow GTA runners Ostholthoff (Want2Race), 2026 champion Tom Walker (E3 Sport) and Connor Blackburn (Performance One) rounded out the top five overall. Ben Wiseman (Want2Race) was the second quickest rookie in sixth, with Ian Beaumont (SVG Motorsport) in third.
Race One
As Beilicke converted pole position into the race lead at the start of lap one, there were early changes behind as Ostholthoff initially grabbed second from Robinson, before they swapped back a few corners later. With Walker electing to sit out the weekend’s races, Wiseman settled into fourth from Beaumont.
The top three ran in close formation for a number of laps, before the emergence of the safety car bunched the whole field back together again. At the restart, confusion with a GT Championship car ahead lost momentum for Robinson, with Ostholthoff grabbing second in the process.
Beilicke went on to win on the road, however a five second penalty for track limits infringements promoted Ostholthoff to the overall victory as the leading GTA contender. Robinson ended up second, with Beilicke left to settle for third overall and the rookie class win.
Beaumont ended up missing out on the rookie class win by just three tenths of a second on the revised result. Blackburn had a rollercoaster race, dropping back to 12th on lap one before producing a tremendous fightback to grab fifth on the final lap.
He was another to receive a track limits penalty though, meaning Lucas Theo (SVG Motorsport) finished fifth and completed the rookie podium after a brilliant charge forward of his own from 11th on the grid. Wiseman lost ground late on to finish sixth.
2024 GTA champion Julian Wantling (E3 Sport) marked his return to the grid with a third-place finish in the class ahead of Blackburn and Lexie Belk (Want2Race) on her first appearance of the season. Robin Grimwood (E3 Sport) was next up, as Faye Goff (Want2Race) overcame a spin to finish fifth of the rookies.
Race Two
Bouncing back from his race one frustration, Beilicke produced a commanding performance in race two. Robinson and Ostholthoff initially loomed large in his mirrors, but the rookie champion was able to break away as the race progressed and secured the overall victory by over four seconds.
Robinson held the GTA lead from start-to-finish to secure his maiden class victory in second overall. Ostholthoff was third, a day prior to his 25th birthday, while Blackburn produced an impressive fightback from seventh at the end of lap one to fourth overall and the final GTA podium spot.
Beaumont pulled off a mid-race move on Wiseman to grab second in the rookie class, while Will Fallon (Privateer) put race one troubles behind him and fought his way to fourth in the GTA ranks. Goff was fourth of the rookies meanwhile, ahead of GTA duo Grimwood and Damien Duffy (Want2Race).
Race Three
Robinson got the final race of the weekend off to a perfect start as he swept past pole-sitter Beilicke for the race lead. His joy was short-lived however, as the red flag came out due to an incident in the GT Championship field ahead, causing a full race restart.
Beilicke got it right second time round to maintain the advantage at the front of the field. Robinson tried to put pressure on in the early stages, but Beilicke soon put the hammer down and pulled clear to take the final win of the campaign by over five seconds.
Robinson had Ostholthoff in his mirrors through the race, but kept him at arms’ length to double his GTA win tally for the day. As they completed the overall top three, Blackburn put in a great defensive drive to hold off Beaumont for fourth overall, picking up a GTA podium in the process.
Beaumont was second of the rookies ahead of his SVG team-mate Theo, who made brilliant progress to go from 11th on the grid to seventh on lap one, before passing Wiseman for sixth soon after. Goff gained five places from the back of the grid to finish eighth ahead of Wantling and Grimwood.
Wantling picked up his second Chairmans Cup win of the weekend in the process, with Grimwood celebrating the other victory. Beilicke was a double winner in the Silver class, as Robinson enjoyed a single success, while the rookie champion also posted a new championship lap record for the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit to secure the Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend Award.
Full race results can be found at TSL Timing. All three races can be watched back now at GT World on YouTube.
