Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996) is a South African racing driver currently competing as a substitute driver in

Formula E Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...

with the ABT Team. He made his GT Masters debut in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, also winning the championship that year, a feat he repeated in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. He won the 2017

24 Hours of Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

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.

2021

In 2021, Van Der Linde competed in the

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM, German Touring Car Masters) is a grand touring car series sanctioned by ITR e.V. who have been affiliated to the DMSB-FIA since 1984. The series is based in Germany, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The ser ...

for Abt Sportsline. 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 motor racing driver set to compete in the 2023 Super Formula Championship with Team Mugen. Lawson, who is mentored by three-time New Zealand Grand Prix winner Ken Smith, previously competed f ...

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. The move was widely condemned, with some believing Van Der Linde did it deliberately. Red Bull motorsport advisor

Helmut Marko Helmut Marko (born 27 April 1943) is an Austrian former professional racing driver and current advisor to the Red Bull GmbH Formula One teams, and head of Red Bull's driver development program. Biography Marko was born in Graz, Austria. He wa ...

called for him to be banned, and Lawson himself did not hold back his anger after the race, stating Kelvin was an 'idiot' and the 'dirtiest guy I'd ever raced against.' Van der Linde would later apologize.

2022

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

2023

After

Robin Frijns Robin Frijns (born 7 August 1991) is a Dutch motor racing driver. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, and the first driver to have won the series in his debut season since Robert Kubica in 2005. Frijns is currently competing in Fo ...

sustained a hand injury at the

2023 Mexico City ePrix The 2023 Mexico City ePrix known for sponsorships reasons as the 2023 Hankook Mexico City E-Prix was a Formula E electric car race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the centre of Mexico City on 14 January 2023. It served as the ope ...

, Van Der Linde was called upon to replace him at ABT Cupra for the rounds at

Diriyah Diriyah ( ar, الدِرْعِيّة), formerly romanized as Dereyeh and Dariyya), is a town in Saudi Arabia located on the north-western outskirts of the Saudi capital, Riyadh. Diriyah was the original home of the Saudi royal family, and served ...

. 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.

Racing record

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 Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Complete TCR International Series results

(

) (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 Bathurst 12 Hour results

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(

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

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(

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

Complete Formula E results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races 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 Sportspeople from Johannesburg 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers 24H Series drivers White South African people Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters drivers Blancpain Endurance Series drivers Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers Formula E drivers Abt Sportsline drivers Cupra Racing drivers Engstler Motorsport drivers South African expatriate sportspeople in Germany