Sheldon van der Linde (born 13 May 1999) is a South African motor racing driver. He has been competing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters since 2019 and is currently the DTM champion, after winning his maiden title in 2022.
Career[]
van der Linde begun his motorsport career at the age of six, racing karts in his native South Africa. He would go on to win multiple national titles before making the transition to racing cars in 2014. In his first season of car racing, van der Linde won the South Africa Polo Cup Championship in dominant fashion. He would go on to win the Volkswagen Cup South Africa the following year.[1]
For 2016, van der Linde raced in the Audi Sport TT Cup, one of the support categories of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He would make an immediate impact, winning both races of the opening round at the Hockenheimring. Scoring multiple podiums, as well as two wins, secured van der Linde fourth in his debut season. Thereafter, he has competed in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, ADAC GT Masters, and both Blancpain GT Series'.
DTM[]
2019[]
In January 2019, it was announced that van der Linde would be driving for BMW Team RBM in the 2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season; thereby making him the first South African driver to compete in the series.[2] He scored a pole position at Zolder and finished 13th in the standings, 19 points behind teammate Joel Eriksson.
2020[]
van der Linde remained with RBM for the 2020 season, this time alongside Philipp Eng. His season started out strongly, scoring his first DTM podium at the second round of the campaign at the Lausitzring. The South African followed that up by winning race 2 at Assen, a race in which he scored the fastest lap as well. A consistent season helped van der Linde to sixth in the championship, finishing as the second-highest BMW driver, narrowly missing out to Timo Glock.
2021[]
For 2021, the first DTM season to be run under Group GT3 regulations, van der Linde switched over to partner Glock at ROWE Racing as the team fielded a pair of BMW M6 GT3 cars in what proved to be their only season in the series. In the first seven races, he recorded five finishes in the top 10. After a fourth-place finish in the second race of the first round at Monza, he started from pole position and led 21 laps in the first race of the second round at the Lausitzring, but eventually received a five-second time penalty for a pit-stop infringement and finished in ninth place.[3][4] After experiencing his first retirement of the season in the second race of the fourth round at the Nürburgring, he also retired from both races of the next round at the Red Bull Ring. He finished sixth in the first race of the sixth round at Assen, before experiencing four consecutive retirements. His campaign ended with an eleventh-place finish in the drivers' standings, with the fourth-place finish at Monza remaining his best race result.[5]
2022[]
For the 2022 season, van der Linde was chosen to partner Philipp Eng at Schubert Motorsport as the team entered the DTM for the first time by fielding a pair of BMW M4 GT3 cars.[6] In the second round of the season at the Lausitzring, he won both races.[7] He scored his third victory of the season in the first race of the fifth round at the Nürburgring, finishing ahead of his brother, Kelvin. It was the first time that two brothers finished 1-2 in a DTM race.[8] Going into the final round at the Hockenheimring, van der Linde was 11 points ahead of Mercedes driver Lucas Auer in the drivers' standings. In the Saturday race, which Auer won, van der Linde finished second after starting from 16th due to a 10-place grid penalty. He went into the Sunday race two points ahead of Auer in the drivers' standings, eventually winning his maiden title with a third-place finish, which put him 11 points ahead of Auer, who finished the race in seventh, in the final drivers' standings.[9]
Racing record[]
Career summary[]
| Season | Series | Team | Races | Wins | Poles | F/Laps | Podiums | Points | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | South Africa Polo Cup Championship | Ferodo Junior Racing Team | 14 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 345 | 1st |
| 2015 | Volkswagen Cup South Africa | Signature Motorsport | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | 1st |
| 2016 | Audi Sport TT Cup | Audi Sport | 14 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 231 | 4th |
| 2017 | TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship | Comtoyou Racing | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 105 | 16th |
| TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship - Junior | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 55 | 8th | ||
| ADAC GT Masters | Aust Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 27th | |
| ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship | AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 3rd | |
| IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 52nd | |
| 2018 | ADAC GT Masters | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 136 | 2nd |
| IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 96 | 22nd | ||
| Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 10th | ||
| Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 21st | ||
| Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Silver Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22.5 | 10th | ||
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Audi Sport Team Land | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th | |
| 2019 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | BMW Team RBM | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 13th |
| Intercontinental GT Challenge | BMW Team Schnitzer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22nd | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | ||
| 2020 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | BMW Team RBM | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 108 | 6th |
| ADAC GT Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 39th | |
| Intercontinental GT Challenge | Walkenhorst Motorsport | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 10th | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd | |
| 2020–21 | Formula E | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | Reserve driver | ||||||
| 2021 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Rowe Racing | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 11th |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd | ||
| GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Walkenhorst Motorsport | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 28th | |
| 2022 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 16 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 164 | 1st |
| IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro | BMW M Team RLL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 34th | |
| 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF | |
| 2023 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | |||||||
| GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Team WRT | ||||||||
| Intercontinental GT Challenge | |||||||||
| IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP | BMW M Team RLL | ||||||||
* Season still in progress.
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | GTD | Audi R8 LMS | Audi 5.2 L V10 | DAY |
SEB |
LBH |
AUS |
BEL |
WGL |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
LGA |
PET 1 |
52nd | 36 |
| 2018 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | GTD | Audi R8 LMS | Audi 5.2 L V10 | DAY 7 |
SEB 4 |
MOH |
BEL |
WGL 12 |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
LGA |
PET 6 |
22nd | 96 | |
| 2022 | BMW M Team RLL | GTD Pro | BMW M4 GT3 | BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 | DAY 9 |
SEB |
LBH |
LGA |
WGL |
MOS |
LIM |
ELK |
VIR |
PET |
34th | 238 | ||
| 2023 | BMW M Team RLL | GTP | BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8 | DAY 9 |
SEB 2 |
LBH |
MON |
WGL |
MOS |
ELK |
IMS | PET |
4th* | 586* |
* Season still in progress.
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results[]
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | HOC 1 6 |
HOC 2 14 |
ZOL 1 11 |
ZOL 2 5 |
MIS 1 9 |
MIS 2 9 |
NOR 1 Ret |
NOR 2 Ret |
ASS 1 10 |
ASS 2 15 |
BRH 1 8 |
BRH 2 7 |
LAU 1 16 |
LAU 2 11 |
NÜR 1 7 |
NÜR 2 16 |
HOC 1 16 |
HOC 2 13 |
13th | 42 |
| 2020 | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | SPA 1 15 |
SPA 2 6 |
LAU 1 2 |
LAU 2 15 |
LAU 1 9 |
LAU 2 10 |
ASS 1 7 |
ASS 2 1 |
NÜR 1 8 |
NÜR 2 6 |
NÜR 1 8 |
NÜR 2 4 |
ZOL 1 6 |
ZOL 2 10 |
ZOL 1 13 |
ZOL 2 7 |
HOC 1 10 |
HOC 2 9 |
6th | 108 |
| 2021 | ROWE Racing | BMW M6 GT3 | MNZ 1 11 |
MNZ 2 4 |
LAU 1 9 |
LAU 2 5 |
ZOL 1 16 |
ZOL 2 7 |
NÜR 1 6 |
NÜR 2 Ret |
RBR 1 Ret |
RBR 2 Ret |
ASS 1 6 |
ASS 2 Ret |
HOC 1 Ret |
HOC 2 Ret |
NOR 1 Ret |
NOR 2 16 |
11th | 55 | ||
| 2022 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | ALG 1 7 |
ALG 2 8 |
LAU 1 1 |
LAU 2 1 |
IMO 1 8 |
IMO 2 5 |
NOR 1 Ret |
NOR 2 15 |
NÜR 1 1 |
NÜR 2 9 |
SPA 1 12 |
SPA 2 2 |
RBR 1 11 |
RBR 2 11 |
HOC 1 2 |
HOC 2 3 |
1st | 164 |
References[]
- ↑ "Sheldon van der Linde - BIOGRAPHY". https://sheldonvanderlinde.com/about-me/. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ↑ "BMW completes 2019 DTM roster with Sheldon van der Linde". 17 January 2019. https://www.autosport.com/dtm/news/141066/bmw-completes-2019-dtm-roster. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
- ↑ Stritzke, Heiko; Haidinger, Sven (2021-06-20). "DTM-Rennen Monza 2: Geburtstagskind van der Linde sorgt für Audi-Doppelsieg" (in de). https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/dtm-rennen-monza-2-geburtstagskind-van-der-linde-sorgt-fuer-audi-doppelsieg-21062003/6589593/.
- ↑ Haidinger, Sven (2021-07-24). "Platz neun statt Podest: Warum Sheldon van der Linde für Stopp bestraft wurde" (in de). https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/platz-neun-statt-podest-warum-sheldon-van-der-linde-fuer-stopp-bestraft-wurde-21072405/6636273/.
- ↑ "DTM 2021 results and standings for top drivers and teams". https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/standings/2021/.
- ↑ Haidinger, Sven (2022-02-17). "Walkenhorst und Schubert BMW-Teams für DTM 2022: Wer die vier Fahrer sind" (in de). https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/walkenhorst-und-schubert-bmw-teams-fuer-dtm-2022-wer-die-vier-fahrer-sind-22021701/8247416/.
- ↑ Haidinger, Sven; Newbold, James (2022-05-23). ""Die Benchmark": Was macht Sheldon van der Linde in der Lausitz so stark?" (in de). https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/die-benchmark-was-macht-sheldon-van-der-linde-in-der-lausitz-so-stark-22052302/10309681/.
- ↑ Ebner, Tobias; Haidinger, Sven (2022-08-27). ""Werde mir ein Foto ausdrucken": Van der Lindes schreiben DTM-Geschichte" (in de). https://de.motorsport.com/dtm/news/werde-mir-ein-foto-ausdrucken-van-der-lindes-schreiben-dtm-geschichte-22082705/10359203/.
- ↑ Thukral, Rachit (2022-10-09). "DTM champion van der Linde couldn't sleep ahead of title decider". https://www.motorsport.com/dtm/news/dtm-champion-van-der-linde-couldnt-sleep-ahead-of-title-decider/10382405/.
External links[]
- Sheldon van der Linde career summary at DriverDB.com
Sporting positions
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