Luis Beilicke continued his impressive start to the 2026 Ginetta GT Academy season with two more victories at Oulton Park this past weekend (23-25 May), before Tom Walker secured his first overall victory of the campaign in the final race.
Qualifying
Beilicke (Want2Race) made it back-to-back double pole positions to start the 2026 season with a supreme performance in qualifying on Saturday morning. The German racer went almost seventh tenths of a second faster than fellow rookie contender Ian Beaumont (SVG Motorsport).
Walker (E3 Sport) secured a double pole in the GTA class in third overall, ahead of his closest rivals Joe Ostholthoff (Want2Race) and Connor Blackburn (Performance One). Lucas Theo (SVG Motorsport) meanwhile was third quickest of the rookie contingent in sixth overall.
Race One
Following on from his Silverstone hat-trick heroics, Beilicke once again proved unstoppable in race one. Controlling the field from the race start, he successfully negotiated a safety car restart and went on to emerge victorious by almost three seconds.
Just like he had done in qualifying, Beaumont made it a rookie one-two at the top of the results sheet. Walker finished third overall as he secured the GTA class victory, while Blackburn finished second in class as they took the chequered flag.
Blackburn received a five-second penalty for track limits infringements though, dropping him back to fourth in class behind Ostholthoff and Will Fallon (Privateer). Ben Wiseman (Want2Race) followed them as he finished third in the rookie class in seventh overall.
Wiseman had to work hard for his podium though, holding off a determined Ash Young (Performance One) in the closing stages. Young was unfortunate to spin at the final corner though, dropping him to fifth in class at the finish, as Faye Goff (Want2Race) took her best result of the season to date in fourth.
Robin Grimwood (E3 Sport) and Allan Wright (Want2Race) enjoyed a close battle as they rounded out the top six of the GTA class. Behind Young, Theo and Damien Duffy (Want2Race) completed the finishers after both having to make trips to the pitlane during the race.
Race Two
It was a repeat performance from Beilicke in the first of two races on bank holiday Monday. Converting pole position into the race lead, he once again maintained his advantage after a safety car interlude and pulled away to an eight second success.
Walker was victorious again in the GTA class, holding the lead from start-to-finish as he finished second overall behind Beilicke. Beaumont enjoyed a close battle with Blackburn in the early laps and finished third overall and second in the rookies, with Blackburn losing second in GTA to Ostholthoff late on.
Blackburn was then handed a ten-second penalty for a false start, dropping him back to eighth overall and off the GTA podium. Wiseman finished up third in the rookie class ahead of Young, while Mark Mayall (Want2Race) bounced back from a race one DNF to secure a GTA podium on his debut.
Goff was running fourth of the rookies when an incident with Grimwood at Shell Oils dropped her to fifth in class. Grimwood continued to finish fifth in the GTA category ahead of Duffy and Wright, while Theo and Fallon unfortunately saw their race end early on after an incident at Druids.
Race Three
The final race of the weekend began with Walker getting the jump on Beilicke on the opening lap. He continued to lead either side of an early safety car period, the first time this season that someone other than Beilicke had led laps in the GT Academy.
Walker held the advantage at the head of the field until lap eight, when a great move around the outside into Hislops netted Beilicke the lead. It lasted less than a lap though, with a mechanical problem forcing the rookie points leader to pull off circuit.
Fending off a late challenge from Ostholthoff, Walker secured his first overall victory and the GTA class honours. Behind them, Beaumont scored his first rookie victory of the campaign at the head of an SVG Motorsport one-two with Theo.
From the back of the grid after his race two retirement, Theo superbly gained six places on the opening lap alone. As he went on to finish fourth overall, there was double podium delight for Performance One as Blackburn and Young finished third in the GTA and rookie classes respectively.
Wiseman finished fourth in the rookie ranks ahead of GTA contenders Mayall, Grimwood and Wright, the latter recovering from an early issue. Duffy was next ahead of Goff, who had an early spin at Island that brought out the safety car, with Fallon completing the finishers.
In addition to his double rookie win, Beilicke was also successful twice in the Silver class, with Walker taking the other win. In the Chairmans Cup, Grimwood was victorious on Saturday before Mayall celebrated a double success on Monday.
Beilicke also picked up the Sunoco Fastest Driver of the Weekend Award, with his 1:49.621s lap in race one providing to be both the quickest racing lap of the event and a new GT Academy lap record for the Oulton Park International circuit.
Full race results can be found at www.tsl-timing.com/event/262105
All three races can be watched back now at www.youtube.com/gtworld
