Sheldon van der Linde

South African motor racing driver

Sheldon van der Linde

van der Linde in 2022

Nationality|  South African
Born|  (1999-05-13) 13 May 1999 (age 25)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Related to| Etienne van der Linde (uncle)
Kelvin van der Linde (brother)
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters career
Debut season| 2019
Current team| Schubert Motorsport
Racing licence|  FIA Platinum
Car number| 31
Former teams| BMW Team RBM, ROWE Racing
Starts| 96
Wins| 6
Poles| 5
Fastest laps| 6
Best finish| 1st in 2022
Previous series
2017

2016
2015

2014| IMSA SportsCar Championship
ADAC GT Masters
TCR Benelux
Audi Sport TT Cup
Volkswagen Cup South Africa
South Africa Polo Cup Championship
Championship titles
2022
2015

2014| Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Volkswagen Cup South Africa
South Africa Polo Cup Championship

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, winning his maiden title in 2022.

## Career

[edit]

Van der Linde began 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

[edit]

Van der Linde making his debut in the 2019 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

#### 2019

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Team WRT's #32 BMW M4 GT3 driven by van der Linde, Vanthoor and Weerts during the 2023 24 Hours of Spa

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]

### Formula E

[edit]

van der Linde served as the reserve driver for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport during the 2020–21 Formula E season.[10]

In April 2023, van der Linde made his debut in a Formula E car during the Berlin rookie test with Jaguar TCS Racing.[11] He would later partake in the rookie test with the team in Rome.[12] van der Linde returned with Jaguar and participated in the rookie free practice session in Misano and the Berlin rookie test.[13][14][15]

## Racing record

[edit]

### Career summary

[edit]

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
VLN Series - SP9 | Audi Sport Team Land  | 5  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 16.58  | 8th
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 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
VLN Series - SP9 | 2  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 10.53  | 29th
Falken Motorsports | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
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
Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 22.65  | 14th
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 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
2022–23  | Formula E | Jaguar TCS Racing | Test driver
2023  | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 16  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 4  | 151  | 4th
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Team WRT | 5  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 26  | 11th
Intercontinental GT Challenge | 5  | 2  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 68  | 5th
FIA GT World Cup | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A  | 16th
IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP | BMW M Team RLL | 3  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 851  | 13th
Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 2  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | NC†
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 1  | N/A  | 2nd
2023–24  | Formula E | Jaguar TCS Racing | Test driver
2024  | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 16  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 142  | 6th
FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar | BMW M Team WRT | 8  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 10  | 27th
Intercontinental GT Challenge | BMW M Team WRT | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | NC*
Rowe Racing |  |  |  |  |
IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro | Paul Miller Racing | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 1  | 319  | 32nd
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Team WRT | 5  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 2  | 48  | 7th
GT World Challenge America - Pro |  |  |  |  |  |  |
FIA GT World Cup |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | Rowe Racing |  |  |  |  |  |  |
24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | 1  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | N/A  | DNF

* Season still in progress.

### Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

[edit]

(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 GT3 | Audi 5.2 L V10  | DAY | SEB | LBH | COA | DET | WGL | MOS | LIM | ELK | VIR | LGA | PET
1 | 52nd  | 36
2018 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport  | GTD  | Audi R8 LMS GT3 | Audi 5.2 L V10  | DAY
7 | SEB
4 | MOH | DET | 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 | LGA | WGL | MOS | ELK | IMS | PET
7 |  |  |  | 13th  | 851
2024 | Paul Miller Racing | GTD Pro  | BMW M4 GT3 | BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 | DAY
3 | SEB | LGA | DET | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | PET |  |  | 32nd  | 319

### Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

[edit]

(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

6 | HOC

14 | ZOL

11 | ZOL

5 | MIS

9 | MIS

9 | NOR

Ret | NOR

Ret | ASS

10 | ASS

15 | BRH

8 | BRH

7 | LAU

16 | LAU

11 | NÜR

7 | NÜR

16 | HOC

16 | HOC

13 | 13th  | 42
2020 | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | SPA

15 | SPA

6 | LAU

2 | LAU

15 | LAU

9 | LAU

10 | ASS

7 | ASS

1 | NÜR

8 | NÜR

6 | NÜR

8 | NÜR

4 | ZOL

6 | ZOL

10 | ZOL

13 | ZOL

7 | HOC

10 | HOC

9 | 6th  | 108
2021 | ROWE Racing | BMW M6 GT3 | MNZ

11 | MNZ

4 | LAU

9 | LAU

5 | ZOL

16 | ZOL

7 | NÜR

6 | NÜR

Ret | RBR

Ret | RBR

Ret | ASS

6 | ASS

Ret | HOC

Ret | HOC

Ret | NOR

Ret | NOR

16 |  |  | 11th  | 55
2022 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | ALG

7 | ALG

8 | LAU

1 | LAU

1 | IMO

8 | IMO

5 | NOR

Ret | NOR

15 | NÜR

1 | NÜR

9 | SPA

12 | SPA

2 | RBR

11 | RBR

11 | HOC

2 | HOC

3 |  |  | 1st  | 164
2023 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | OSC

Ret | OSC

11 | ZAN

2 | ZAN

10 | NOR

1 | NOR

3 | NÜR

7 | NÜR

17 | LAU

5 | LAU

13 | SAC

6 | SAC

Ret | RBR

13 | RBR

2 | HOC

20 | HOC

4 |  |  | 4th  | 151
2024 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | OSC

4 | OSC

6 | LAU

6 | LAU

8 | ZAN

6 | ZAN

8 | NOR

72 | NOR

14 | NÜR

13 | NÜR

1 | SAC

9 | SAC

8 | RBR

11 | RBR

6 | HOC

11 | HOC

9 |  |  | 6th  | 142

* Season still in progress.

### Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

[edit]

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

Year  | Entrant  | Class  | Chassis  | Engine  | 1  | 2  | 3  | 4  | 5  | 6  | 7  | 8  | Rank  | Points

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2024 | BMW M Team WRT | Hypercar  | BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8  | QAT
10 | IMO
6 | SPA
13 | LMS
NC | SÃO
14 | COA
13 | FUJ
Ret | BHR
Ret | 27th  | 10

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

[edit]

Year  | Team  | Co-Drivers  | Car  | Class  | Laps  | Pos. | Class
Pos.

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

2024 |  BMW M Team WRT |  Robin Frijns
René Rast | BMW M Hybrid V8 | Hypercar  | 96  | NC | NC

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Sheldon van der Linde - BIOGRAPHY". Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
2. ^ "BMW completes 2019 DTM roster with Sheldon van der Linde". 17 January 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
3. ^ Stritzke, Heiko; Haidinger, Sven (20 June 2021). "DTM-Rennen Monza 2: Geburtstagskind van der Linde sorgt für Audi-Doppelsieg". Motorsport.com (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2022.
4. ^ Haidinger, Sven (24 July 2021). "Platz neun statt Podest: Warum Sheldon van der Linde für Stopp bestraft wurde". Motorsport.com (in German). Retrieved 25 May 2022.
5. ^ "DTM 2021 results and standings for top drivers and teams". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
6. ^ Haidinger, Sven (17 February 2022). "Walkenhorst und Schubert BMW-Teams für DTM 2022: Wer die vier Fahrer sind". Motorsport.com (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2022.
7. ^ Haidinger, Sven; Newbold, James (23 May 2022). ""Die Benchmark": Was macht Sheldon van der Linde in der Lausitz so stark?". Motorsport.com (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2022.
8. ^ Ebner, Tobias; Haidinger, Sven (27 August 2022). ""Werde mir ein Foto ausdrucken": Van der Lindes schreiben DTM-Geschichte". Motorsport.com (in German). Retrieved 6 September 2022.
9. ^ Thukral, Rachit (9 October 2022). "DTM champion van der Linde couldn't sleep ahead of title decider". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
10. ^ "Packed schedule: BMW works driver Sheldon van der Linde scheduled to compete in GT racing and Formula E in 2021". 18 December 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
11. ^ "South African Sheldon van der Linde to take part in Formula E rookie test for Jaguar". 19 April 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
12. ^ "Ciao Roma! Jaguar TCS Racing aim for strong performance at the team's most successful track". Jaguar Racing. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
13. ^ "Jaguar Bring Back Sheldon Van Der Linde For Misano Test". The Official Home of Formula E. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
14. ^ "Fittipaldi And Van Der Linde Get Jaguar Berlin Rookie Test Opportunity". The Official Home of Formula E. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
15. ^ "Enzo Fittipaldi and Sheldon van der Linde complete successful rookie test for Jaguar TCS Racing". Jaguar Racing. 13 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Sheldon van der Linde career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions

Preceded by

Maximilian Götz

|  Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Champion
2022 | Succeeded by

Thomas Preining

* v
* t
* e

BMW M Factory Drivers

Works Drivers|

* Bill Auberlen (1996—)
* Augusto Farfus (2007—)
* Bruno Spengler (2012—)
* Marco Wittmann (2012—)
* Maxime Martin (2013—17, 2023—)
* Jens Klingmann (2014—)
* Jesse Krohn (2014—)
* Philipp Eng (2016—)
* Connor De Phillippi (2018—)
* Jake Dennis (2018—)
* Sheldon van der Linde (2019—)
* Nick Yelloly (2019—)
* Dan Harper (2020—)
* Max Hesse (2020—)
* Neil Verhagen (2020—)
* Erik Johansson (2020—)
* Robby Foley (2021—)
* Madison Snow (2022—)
* Robin Frijns (2023—)
* René Rast (2023—)
* Valentino Rossi (2023—)
* Dries Vanthoor (2023—)
* Charles Weerts (2023—)
* Raffaele Marciello (2024—)

* v
* t
* e

2022 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters teams

Audi|

| Abt Sportsline| Team Rosberg| Attempto Racing

|
|

* 3\. Kelvin van der Linde
* 7\. Ricardo Feller
* 33\. René Rast

* 12\. Dev Gore
* 51\. Nico Müller

* 66\. Marius Zug

BMW|

| Walkenhorst Motorsport| Schubert Motorsport| Ceccato Motors

|
|

* 10\. Esteban Muth
* 11\. Marco Wittmann

* 25\. Philipp Eng
* 31\. Sheldon van der Linde

* 50\. Timo Glock

Ferrari|

| AlphaTauri AF Corse| Red Bull AF Corse

|

* 37\. Sébastien Loeb/Nick Cassidy/Ayhancan Güven

* 74\. Felipe Fraga

Lamborghini|

| GRT| T3 Motorsport

|

* 6\. Alessio Deledda
* 19\. Rolf Ineichen
* 63\. Mirko Bortolotti
* 85\. Clemens Schmid

* 26\. Esmee Hawkey
* 95\. Nicki Thiim

Mercedes-Benz|

| Mercedes-AMG Team Winward| Mercedes-AMG Team HRT| Mercedes-AMG Team Mücke Motorsport| Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing

|
|
|

* 1\. Maximilian Götz
* 22\. Lucas Auer
* 27\. David Schumacher

* 4\. Luca Stolz
* 36\. Arjun Maini

* 18\. Maximilian Buhk

* 55\. Mikaël Grenier
* 88\. Maro Engel

Porsche|

| KÜS Team Bernhard| SSR Performance

|

* 24\. Thomas Preining

* 92\. Laurens Vanthoor
* 94\. Dennis Olsen

*[Best finish]: Best finish in the championship
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template