Kelvin van der Linde

Kelvin van der Linde
Kelvin van der Linde
Nationality	South African
Born	20 June 1996 (age 28); Johannesburg, South Africa
Related to	Etienne van der Linde (uncle); Sheldon van der Linde (brother)
ADAC GT Masters career
Debut season	2014
Current team	C. Abt Racing
Car number	1
Starts	84
Wins	10
Poles	7
Fastest laps	1
Previous series
2015; 2014; 2013; 2011–2012; 2006–2010	TCR International Series; Blancpain Sprint Series; Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup; Volkswagen Cup South Africa; Karting
Championship titles
2014, 2019; 2013; 2011–2012; 2008, 2010	ADAC GT Masters; Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup; Volkswagen Cup South Africa; South African Karting Championship

Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996) is a South African racing driver currently competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, Asian Le Mans Series and GT World Challenge Europe. He made his GT Masters debut in 2014, also winning the championship that year, a feat he repeated in 2019. He won the 2017 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

Racing career

Born and raised in South Africa, Kelvin van der Linde started his racing career in Karting at the age of 8 in 2005.

In 2011 he became the youngest ever driver to compete in a National South African Circuit event at age 14 and then went on to become South Africa’s youngest ever National Champion at the age of 16 years and 128 days the following year.

2013 was a breakthrough year when he won his first International Championship. At the age of 17, Van Der Linde became the youngest ever winner of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup and earned his place as a Volkswagen supported Junior driver for the 2014 season. Leading on from the previous year’s success, he wrapped up back to back European titles when he became the youngest ever ADAC GT Masters Champion at age 18 driving an Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

In 2015 Van Der Linde was promoted to the role of Audi factory driver, winning some of the world’s most prestigious events in the years that followed, including the 2017 Nürburgring 24H and Suzuka 10H.

Van Der Linde competed in the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for Abt Sportsline. He won four races and finished third in the drivers' championship. Going into the final round started the final race of the season fighting for the drivers' championship title with Liam Lawson and Maximilian Götz.

2021 DTM Final Controversy

During both of the final races of the Championship at the Norisring, Van Der Linde had similar incidents with Lawson. In the first race, Van Der Linde dived down the inside of Liam, with Liam finished in 3rd. In the second race the consequences were much more serious; Lawson's car was damaged in a first-lap collision with Van Der Linde, who again dived down the inside of Lawson, taking Lawson out of contention for the title as he finished 18th. Van Der Linde was then given a five-second time penalty as a result. Towards the end of the race, Van Der Linde suffered a puncture in a battle with Götz and lost his chances to win the title, which eventually went to Götz after Mercedes issued team orders to the cars ahead of the latter to guarantee he finished 1st.^[1]

The move was widely condemned, with some believing Van Der Linde did it deliberately. Red Bull's Helmut Marko called him to be 'banned',^[2] and Lawson himself did not held back his anger after the race, stating Kelvin was an 'idiot' and the 'dirtiest guy I'd ever raced against.'^[3] Van der Linde would later apologize.^[4]

2022

Days before the final round of the 2021 DTM season, Abt Sportsline confirmed him as their driver for the 2022 season.^[5]

Racing record

Career summary

Season	Series	Team	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	Position
2011	Engen Volkswagen Cup	Ferodo Racing	10	0	0	0	1	?	3rd
	Volkswagen Challenge South Africa	Ferodo Racing	16	12	16	15	12	152	1st
	Volkswagen Challenge South Africa	Autoquip	16	12	16	15	12	152	1st
2012	Volkswagen Cup South Africa	?	20	7	?	?	15	429	1st
2013	Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup	?	9	5	2	4	6	348	1st
2014	ADAC GT Masters	Prosperia C. Abt Racing	16	3	4	0	9	214	1st
2014	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Prosperia Abt Racing	2	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2015	ADAC GT Masters	C. Abt Racing	16	1	0	0	3	81	14th
	TCR International Series	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	2	0	0	0	0	13	21st
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2016	ADAC GT Masters	Car Collection Motorsport	10	0	0	0	0	1	54th
2016	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP6	Prosport-Performance GmbH	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
2017	ADAC GT Masters	Aust Motorsport	14	1	0	0	2	107	5th
	Australian GT Championship	JAMEC PEM Racing	12	2	0	0	5	516	4th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Magnus	2	1	0	0	1	27	5th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team ISR	2	1	0	0	1	27	5th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring . SP9	Audi Sport Team Land	1	1	0	0	0	N/A	1st
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Audi Sport Team ISR	4	0	0	0	0	5	33rd
2018	ADAC GT Masters	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	14	2	0	0	6	136	2nd
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team MPC	3	1	2	1	2	40	6th
		Audi Sport Team Absolute Racing
		Audi Sport Team Land
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Attempto Racing	5	0	0	0	1	36	8th
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	5	0	0	0	1	36	8th
	Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup	Attempto Racing	10	1	0	1	3	65	3rd
	WeatherTech SportsCar Championship - GTD	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	1	0	0	0	1	24	53rd
	Stock Car Brasil	Blau Motorsport	3	0	0	0	1	0	NC†
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9	Audi Sport Team Land	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
2019	ADAC GT Masters	HCB-Rutronik Racing	14	3	3	1	7	205	1st
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Valvoline	4	1	0	0	1	32	13th
		Audi Sport Team Land
		Audi Sport Team WRT
	Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup	Attempto Racing	4	0	0	0	0	10	24th
	24 Hours of Daytona - GTD	Audi Sport Team WRT Speedstar	1	0	0	0	1	30	3rd
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Pro	Audi Sport Team Land	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	NC
	FIA GT World Cup	Audi Sport Team Rutronik	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	10th
2019–20	Formula E	Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler	Test driver
2020	ADAC GT Masters	Rutronik Racing	13	1	0	0	4	160	4th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	4	1	0	0	1	52	4th
	GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	10	1	0	1	2	66	4th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9	Audi Sport Team Land	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	6th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Valvoline	1	0	0	1	0	4	19th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team WRT	2	0	0	0	0	4	19th
2021	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Team Abt Sportsline	16	4	5	2	5	208	3rd
	Asian Le Mans Series - LMP2	Phoenix Racing	2	0	0	0	1	27	9th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Team WRT	3	0	0	0	2	56	5th
	GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup		4	0	0	0	1	9.5	22nd
	24H GT Series - GT3 Pro		1	0	0	0	1	26	NC
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team WRT	1	0	0	0	1	33	7th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Saintéloc Racing	1	0	0	0	1	33	7th
	24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 Pro	Audi Sport Team Land	1	0	0	0	0	N/A	DNF
2022	Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters	Team Abt Sportsline	16	0	1	1	1	90	9th
	GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup	Belgian Audi Club Team WRT	4	1	2	0	1	27	17th
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team Valvoline
	Intercontinental GT Challenge	Audi Sport Team WRT

^† As Van Der Linde was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete ADAC GT Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	DC	Points
2014	Prosperia C. Abt Racing	Audi R8 LMS Ultra	OSC 1 2	OSC 2 1	ZAN 1 3	ZAN 2 2	LAU 1 7	LAU 2 2	RBR 1 10	RBR 2 2	SLO 1 6	SLO 2 10	NÜR 1 6	NÜR 2 2	SAC 1 1	SAC 2 1	HOC 1 10	HOC 2 6	1st	214
2015	C. Abt Racing	Audi R8 LMS Ultra	OSC 1 17	OSC 2 6	RBR 1 10	RBR 2 17	SPA 1 Ret	SPA 2 11	LAU 1 Ret	LAU 2 12	NÜR 1 3	NÜR 2 Ret	SAC 1 Ret	SAC 2 1	ZAN 1 Ret	ZAN 2 7	HOC 1 3	HOC 2 7	14th	81
2016	Car Collection Motorsport	Audi R8 LMS Evo	OSC 1 27	OSC 2 10	SAC 1 24	SAC 2 20	LAU 1 29	LAU 2 Ret	RBR 1 Ret	RBR 2 16	NÜR 1 12	NÜR 2 24	ZAN 1	ZAN 2	HOC 1	HOC 2			54th	1
2017	Aust Motorsport	Audi R8 LMS Evo	OSC 1 4	OSC 2 9	LAU 1 6	LAU 2 7	RBR 1 9	RBR 2 21	ZAN 1 2	ZAN 2 Ret	NÜR 1 6	NÜR 2 1	SAC 1 4	SAC 2 6	HOC 1 7	HOC 2 20			5th	107
2018	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	Audi R8 LMS Evo	OSC 1 2	OSC 2 Ret	MST 1 9	MST 2 8	RBR 1 5	RBR 2 13	NÜR 1 Ret	NÜR 2 10	ZAN 1 2	ZAN 2 11	SAC 1 1	SAC 2 2	HOC 1 3	HOC 2 1			2nd	136
2019	HCB-Rutronik Racing	Audi R8 LMS Evo	OSC 1 2	OSC 2 4	MST 1 1	MST 2 4	RBR 1 4	RBR 2 3	ZAN 1 17	ZAN 2 9	NÜR 1 3	NÜR 2 2	HOC 1 9	HOC 2 1	SAC 1 19	SAC 2 1			1st	205

Complete TCR International Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	DC	Points
2015	Liqui Moly Team Engstler	Audi TT Cup	SEP 1	SEP 2	SHA 1	SHA 2	VAL 1	VAL 2	ALG 1 4	ALG 2 12†	MNZ 1	MNZ 2	SAL 1	SAL 2	SOC 1	SOC 2	RBR 1	RBR 2	MRN 1	MRN 2	CHA 1	CHA 2	MAC 1	MAC 2	21st	13

^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2018	Jamec Pem Racing	Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch	Audi R8 LMS	APP	241	27th	7th
2019	Audi Sport Team Valvoline	Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch	Audi R8 LMS	APP	181	DNF	DNF

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)


Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Engine	Class	No.	1	2	3	4	Pos.	Points
2021	Phoenix Racing	Matthias Kaiser Nicki Thiim Simon Trummer	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	P2	5	DUB 1 3	DUB 2 3	ABU 1 4	ABU 2 3	4th	57

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos	Points
2021	Abt Sportsline	Audi R8 LMS Evo	MNZ 1 4	MNZ 2 1	LAU 1 4	LAU 2 3	ZOL 1 1	ZOL 2 8	NÜR 1 1	NÜR 2 Ret	RBR 1 5	RBR 2 6	ASS 1 12	ASS 2 4	HOC 1 1	HOC 2 10	NOR 1 4	NOR 2 17	3rd	208
2022	Team Abt Sportsline	Audi R8 LMS Evo II	ALG 1 4	ALG 2 6	LAU 1 Ret	LAU 2 20	IMO 1 5	IMO 2 13	NOR 1 Ret	NOR 2 Ret	NÜR 1 2	NÜR 2 4	SPA 1 5	SPA 2 14	RBR 1 8	RBR 2 Ret	HOC 1 12	HOC 2 5	9th	90

References

^ Thukral, Rachit; Haidinger, Sven (11 October 2021). "Lawson hits out at "idiot" van der Linde after losing DTM title". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
^ Media, TEAMTalk. "Red Bull's Marko calls for SA DTM driver Kelvin Van der Linde to be banned". Wheels. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
^ Crebolder, Finley (11 October 2021). "Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson rages over lost DTM title". PlanetF1. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
^ "Kelvin van der Linde apologises for taking out Liam Lawson in DTM finale". VelocityNews. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
^ "Kelvin van der Linde also in DTM with ABT Sportsline in 2022". ABT Sportsline GmbH. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.

External links

Kelvin van der Linde career summary at DriverDB.com
Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Diego Alessi Daniel Keilwitz	ADAC GT Masters Champion 2015 With: René Rast	Succeeded by Sebastian Asch Luca Ludwig
Preceded by Mathieu Jaminet Robert Renauer	ADAC GT Masters Champion 2019 With: Patric Niederhauser	Succeeded by Michael Ammermüller Christian Engelhart

[1] Thukral, Rachit; Haidinger, Sven (11 October 2021). "Lawson hits out at "idiot" van der Linde after losing DTM title". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.

[2] Media, TEAMTalk. "Red Bull's Marko calls for SA DTM driver Kelvin Van der Linde to be banned". Wheels. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

[3] Crebolder, Finley (11 October 2021). "Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson rages over lost DTM title". PlanetF1. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

[4] "Kelvin van der Linde apologises for taking out Liam Lawson in DTM finale". VelocityNews. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2022.

[5] "Kelvin van der Linde also in DTM with ABT Sportsline in 2022". ABT Sportsline GmbH. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.

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v t e Winners of the Nürburgring 24 Hours
Five-time	Timo Bernhard Pedro Lamy Marcel Tiemann
Four-time	Marc Duez Romain Dumas Marc Lieb Fritz Müller Peter Zakowski
Three-time	Herbert Hechler Klaus Ludwig Hans-Joachim Stuck Markus Winkelhock
Two-time	Uwe Alzen Michael Bartels Nicky Catsburg Axel Felder Dieter Gartmann Christopher Haase Altfrid Heger Frank Katthöfer Lucas Luhr Christopher Mies Jörg Müller Klaus Niedzwiedz Gerold Pankl Roberto Ravaglia Johannes Scheid Sabine Schmitz Bernd Schneider Frank Stippler Hans-Jürgen Tiemann Kelvin van der Linde Dries Vanthoor Frédéric Vervisch Winfried Vogt Joachim Winkelhock
One-time	Bamber Basseng Bleekemolen Bovensiepen Bröhling Burgstaller Cairoli Cecotto Christensen Christodoulou Danner De Azevedo De Phillippi Dören Döring Edwards Eng Engel Estre Farfus Faubel Fernández Laser Frijns Geschwendtner Giroix Hahne Hammelmann Hohenzollern Holup Huisman Joisten Kaffer Kelleners Konrad Kummle Lauda Lechner Lietz Makowiecki Mamerow Martin Mauer Mayländer Menzel Metzger D. Müller N. Müller Nissen Oberndorfer Oestreich Pilet Pirro Pittard Priaulx Quirin Rast Rensing Reuter Rockenfeller Rosterg Said Sandström Scheider Schickentanz Schmickler M. Schneider Selzer Sims Soper Tandy Thiim L. Vanthoor Walterscheid-Müller Widmann Wirdheim Wlazik Wolf Yelloly