Kelvin van der Linde

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.

In 2015, van der Linde was promoted to Audi factory driver, winning the 2017 24 Hours of Nürburgring and Suzuka 10 Hours.

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.

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.

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 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 GT World Challenge Europe results

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup

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

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)

^† 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 IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

^† 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)

^* 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)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results