Kelvin van der Linde

Kelvin van der Linde (born 20 June 1996), also known by his initials KVDL, is a South African racing driver for BMW Motorsport. He previously drove for Audi.

Van Der Linde is a two-time ADAC GT Masters champion (2014 and 2019) and a three-time 24 Hours of Nürburgring winner (2017, 2022 and 2025). He made his DTM debut with Audi in 2021, placing third after a crash with Liam Lawson in the final race. He was DTM runner-up in 2024 for Abt Sportsline. Van Der Linde moved to BMW in 2025, and won both the GT World Challenge Europe and Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Van Der Linde also competed in Formula E as a substitute driver for ABT Cupra in 2023 and 2024.

He is the older brother of Sheldon van der Linde.

Racing career

Van Der Linde, a South African, started his career in racing in kart racing at the age of eight in 2005.

In 2011, van der Linde became the youngest driver to compete in a National South African Circuit event at the age of 14 and also South Africa's youngest National Champion at the age of 16 in 2012.

In 2013, van der Linde 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 ADAC GT Masters champion at the age of 18 driving an Audi R8 LMS Ultra.

2021

In 2021, van der Linde competed in the 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) 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 and Maximilian Götz.

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 Lawson, with Lawson finished in third. 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 in first.

2022 Days before the final round of the 2021 DTM season, Abt Sportsline confirmed van der Linde 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 (2023–2024) 2022–23 season After Robin Frijns 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. In his first weekend in single-seater racing, he 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, replacing Nico Müller who missed the event due to clashing commitments in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Personal life Kelvin is the older brother of Sheldon van der Linde, a fellow BMW factory driver and 2022 DTM champion. Together, they won the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour. Their uncle Etienne van der Linde was also a racing driver.

In 2022, van der Linde initiated the process for acquiring 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) 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 OSC1 OSC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 LAU1 LAU2 RBR1 RBR2 SLO1 SLO2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 1st214 2015 C. Abt Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra OSC1 OSC2 RBR1 RBR2 SPA1 SPA2 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HOC1 HOC2 14th 81 2016 Car Collection Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC1 OSC2 SAC1 SAC2 LAU1 LAU2 RBR1 RBR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 HOC1 HOC2 54th 1 2017 Aust Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC1 OSC2 LAU1 LAU2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 5th 107 2018 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC1 OSC2 MST1 MST2 RBR1 RBR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 2nd 136 2019 HCB-Rutronik Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo OSC1 OSC2 MST1 MST2 RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 SAC1 SAC2 1st 2052020Rutronik RacingAudi R8 LMS Evo LAU1 LAU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 SAC1 SAC2 RBR1 RBR2 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 4th 160

Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos. Points 2014 Prosperia ABT Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra Pro NOGQR NOGCR BRHQR BRHCR ZANQR ZANCR SVKQR SVKCR ALGQR ALGCR ZOLQR ZOLCR BAKQR BAKCR NC 0 2018 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Pro ZOL1 ZOL2 BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 3rd 65 2019 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo Pro BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HUN1 HUN2 10th 24.5 2020 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Evo Pro MIS1 MIS2 MIS3 MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 4th 66 2021 ROFGO Racing with Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Evo Pro MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 MIS1 MIS2 BRH1 BRH2 VAL1 VAL 2 22nd 9.5 2025 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo Pro BRH1 BRH2 ZAN1 ZAN2 MIS1 MIS2 MAG1 MAG2 VAL1 VAL2 1st 88.5 2026 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo Pro BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 MAG1 MAG2 ZAN1 ZAN2 CAT1 CAT2 1st* 49.5*

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (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) 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 SEP1 SEP2 SHA1 SHA2 VAL1 VAL2 ALG1 ALG2 MNZ1 MNZ2 SAL1 SAL2 SOC1 SOC2 RBR1 RBR2 MRN1 MRN2 CHA1 CHA2 MAC1 MAC2 21st 13 † 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 Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2018 Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch Audi R8 LMS Pro 241 27th 7th 2019 Melbourne Performance Centre Garth Tander Frédéric Vervisch Audi R8 LMS Pro 181 DNF DNF 2020 Melbourne Performance Centre Mattia Drudi Markus Winkelhock Audi R8 LMS Evo Pro 308 18th 11th 2022 Melbourne Performance Centre Nathanaël Berthon Brad Schumacher Audi R8 LMS Evo II 290 4th 4th 2024 Melbourne Performance Centre Christopher Haase Liam Talbot Pro 275 3rd 3rd 2025 Team WRT Sheldon van der Linde Augusto Farfus BMW M4 GT3 Pro 306 1st 1st 2026 Team WRT Jordan Pepper Charles Weerts BMW M4 GT3 Evo Pro 262 12th 8th

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Complete Stock Car Brasil results Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points 2018 Blau Motorsport Chevrolet Cruze INT1 CUR1 CUR2 VEL1 VEL2 LON1 LON2 SCZ1 SCZ2 GOI1 MOU1 MOU2 CAS1 CAS2 VCA1 VCA2 TAR1 TAR2 GOI1 GOI2 INT1 NC† 0† † As Albuquerque was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.

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) 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 MNZ1 MNZ2 LAU1 LAU2 ZOL1 ZOL2 NÜR1 NÜR2 RBR1 RBR2 ASS1 ASS2 HOC1 HOC2 NOR1 NOR2 3rd 208 2022 Team Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS Evo II ALG1 ALG2 LAU1 LAU2 IMO1 IMO2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SPA1 SPA2 RBR1 RBR2 HOC1 HOC2 9th 90 2023 Abt Sportsline Audi R8 LMS Evo II OSC1 OSC2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 LAU1 LAU2 SAC1 SAC2 RBR1 RBR2 HOC1 HOC2 8th 119 2024 Red Bull – Team ABT Audi R8 LMS Evo II OSC1 OSC2 LAU1 LAU2 ZAN1 ZAN2 NOR1 NOR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 RBR1 RBR2 HOC1 HOC2 2nd 221 2026 Schubert Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Evo RBR1 RBR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 LAU1 LAU2 NOR1 NOR2 OSC1 OSC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 13th* 73* Season still in progress.

Complete FIA Formula E World Championship 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) Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Rank Points 2024 Akkodis ASP Team LMGT3 Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 QAT IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ BHR 23rd 18 2025 Team WRT LMGT3 BMW M4 GT3 Evo BMW P58 3.0 L Turbo I6 QAT IMO SPA LMS SÃO COA FUJ BHR 8th 52

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2024 Akkodis ASP Team Timur Boguslavskiy Arnold Robin Lexus RC F GT3 LMGT3 279 34th 7th 2025 Team WRT Ahmad Al Harthy Valentino Rossi BMW M4 GT3 Evo LMGT3 156 DNF DNF