South African teenage racer, Kelvin van der Linde, has once again done his family and country proud by becoming the youngest-ever winner of the international ADAC GT Masters Championship at the Hockenheimring Grand Prix circuit in Germany with the Prosperia C Abt team’s Audi R8 LMS Ultra.
The 18-year old matric student from Dainfern College, along with 27-year old German co-driver Renè Rast, secured the title with a 10th place in the first of two races at the famous track and enough points to ensure that Dutch championship rival and Porsche 911 GT3R driver Jaap van Lagen (who finished 11th in the same race) wouldn’t be able to take the title. The 38-year old would have then needed 36 points from a possible 25 in the final hour-long race to beat the pair.
The final points tally between the top drivers was 214 for Van der Linde/Rast and 188 for van Lagen after the feature race on Sunday, in which the South African and his German counterpart finished sixth after starting from seventh on the grid. In the process, the Prosperia C. Abt squad won the team championship for the second consecutive year.
Van der Linde’s successful run extends from the age of 16, when he became the youngest ever winner of the South African Volkswagen Cup championship in 2012, and last year, when he won the German-based Scirocco R-Cup Championship in his rookie season.
“I learnt so much from René (Rast), who shared all his considerable knowledge and driving skills with me. It was a privilege to have been his team-mate. I must also thank Christian Abt, a very successful driver in his own right and our team owner, for the opportunity to join his crack team. I was a novice and untested in the very competitive GT Masters formula and up against some of the world’s top sportscar drivers. I have grown so much this year and gained so much valuable experience,” van der Linde said.
In addition to his brilliant season on the track, he was adjudged Driver of the Year at the end of the 2014 FIA Institute Young Drivers Excellence Academy programme, in which he represented the African continent and competed against nine other talented young drivers aged between 16 and 25 from six continents and eight countries. His brother, Sheldon (15), is currently lead the VW Cup here in South Africa.
We’d like to wish Kelvin van der Linde all of the very best as he works his way toward his goal of competing in long distance sports car racing.
