Kelvin van der Linde

Kelvin van der Linde was born on 20 June 1996 in Johannesburg and began racing in South African karting in 2006, winning national titles in 2008 and 2010. In 2011, aged 14, he became the youngest driver ever to compete in a South African circuit racing event for seniors, and a year later the youngest ever champion in the South African VW Polo Cup.

2013 marked his move to Europe: at 17 he became the youngest ever winner of the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, earning him a place in Volkswagen’s junior programme. In 2014, partnered with René Rast, he became the youngest ADAC GT Masters champion in history at just 18, a result that brought him an Audi factory contract he held until 2022.

Van der Linde built an impressive GT3 record in the years that followed: he won the 24 Hours of Nürburgring outright in both 2017 and 2022, and claimed a second ADAC GT Masters title alongside Patric Niederhauser in 2019. He joined Abt Sportsline for the DTM’s switch to GT3 regulations in 2021, finishing third overall as a rookie and runner-up in 2024.

In 2025 he switched to BMW factory duties with WRT and, alongside Charles Weerts, swept up almost everything the GT3 world had to offer: the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup title plus victories in the Bathurst 12 Hour, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the Indianapolis 8 Hour, and the Suzuka 1000km. In 2026 he returns to the DTM after a year away, replacing René Rast at Schubert Motorsport, the team his brother Sheldon led to the title in 2022.