Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996) is a South African and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...

driver for

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing. The current organisation is a ...

. He is a two-time champion of the

ADAC GT Masters The ADAC GT Masters is a grand tourer-based auto racing series founded by the international Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and supported by the German ADAC automotive club. Similar to an earlier ADAC GT Cup series in the 1990s, the new GT ...

, having won the championship in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, and won the

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral (linguistics), numeral and numerical digit, digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is tetraphobia, considered unlucky i ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. Van Der Linde formally competed in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, commonly abbreviated as the DTM, is a sports car racing series sanctioned by ADAC. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The series currently races a modified version of Group GT3 gra ...

for

Abt Sportsline Abt Sportsline is an auto racing and auto tuning company based in Kempten im Allgäu, Germany. Abt mainly deals with Audi and the related primary Volkswagen Group brands—Volkswagen, Škoda, and SEAT—modifying them by using sports-type su ...

. He also made his

formula racing Formula racing, also known as open-wheel racing in North America, is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. A "formula", first devised by FIA for its post–World War II single-seater races, is a set of regulations for ...

debut in

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is an open-wheel single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The racing series is the highest class of competition for electrically powered single-seater racing cars ...

at the 2023 Diriyah ePrix, driving for ABT Cupra as a substitute for the injured

Robin Frijns Robin Christiaan Maria Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch racing driver. He most recently raced in Formula E with Envision Racing, and in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Team WRT as part of the BMW in motorsport, BMW factory driver l ...

Racing career

Kelvin van der Linde, a South African, started his career in racing in

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

at the age of eight in 2005. In 2011, he became the youngest driver to compete in a National South African Circuit event at age 14 and also South Africa's youngest National Champion at the age of 16 in 2012. In 2013 he won the International Championship. At the age of 17, van der Linde became the youngest ever winner of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup and became a Volkswagen-supported junior driver for the 2014 season. He became the youngest

champion at age 18 driving an Audi R8 LMS Ultra. In 2015, van der Linde was promoted to Audi factory driver, winning the 2017 24 Hours of Nürburgring and

Suzuka 10 Hours The Suzuka 1000km, also known as the Suzuka Summer Endurance Race, is an annual sports car endurance race that has been held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Prefecture, Japan since 1966. After a five-year hiatus, the event is scheduled to return in ...

2021

In 2021, van der Linde competed in the

2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters was the thirty-fifth season of the premier German motor racing championship and also the twenty-second season under the moniker of Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since the series' resumption in 2000. It was ...

(DTM) for

. He won four races and finished third in the drivers' championship. Going into the final round of the season, he was fighting for the drivers' championship title with

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver who competes in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings and raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began competitive kart racing aged seven. Lawson—who is ...

and

Maximilian Götz Maximilian Götz (born 4 February 1986) is a German racing driver. He has competed in such series as International Formula Master and the Formula 3 Euro Series. He won the 2003 Formula BMW ADAC season, taking six victories. He also won the 2021 ...

. During both of the final races of the Championship at the

Norisring The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the 19 ...

, 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.

2022

Days before the final round of the 2021 DTM season, Abt Sportsline confirmed him as their driver for the 2022 season. After finishing ninth in points in 2022, van der Linde returned to the team for 2023.

Formula E

ABT CUPRA Formula E Team (2023–)

2022–23 season

After

sustained a hand injury at the 2023 Mexico City ePrix, van der Linde was called upon to replace him at ABT Cupra for the rounds at

Diriyah Diriyah (; formerly romanization of Arabic, romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya) is a towns in Saudi Arabia, town and governorate in Saudi Arabia. Located on the northwestern outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Diriyah was the original home of t ...

. In his first weekend in single-seater racing, the South African managed to finish 16th during the first race and 18th on Saturday, which he stated gave him a base to build upon for the following event.

2023–24 season

As a reserve driver of ABT Cupra, van der Linde returned for the

2024 Berlin ePrix The 2024 Berlin ePrix, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2024 SUN MINIMEAL Berlin E-Prix, was a pair of Formula E Electric motorsport, electric car races held at the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit at Tempelhof Airport in the outskirts of ...

, replacing

Nico Müller Nico Sebastian Müller (born 25 February 1992) is a Swiss people, Swiss professional Auto racing, racing driver currently competing in Formula E for Andretti Global, Andretti Formula E. Career Karting Müller began his karting career in 2004 a ...

who missed the event due to clashing commitments in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

Personal life

In 2022, van der Linde initiated the process for acquiring the German citizenship after living in Kempten, Germany, since 2014. In early 2024 the process was completed.

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† 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)

Complete TCR International Series results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete 24 Hours of Nürburgring results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Complete GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

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

Complete Formula E results

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

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:van der Linde, Kelvin 1996 births Living people ADAC GT Masters drivers South African racing drivers TCR International Series drivers Racing drivers from Johannesburg 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 24H Series drivers White South African people Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Formula E drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Cupra Racing drivers Engstler Motorsport drivers South African expatriate sportspeople in Germany Phoenix Racing drivers Audi Sport drivers W Racing Team drivers ISR Racing drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Stock Car Brasil drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 21st-century South African sportsmen BMW M drivers Rowe Racing drivers