# Sheldon van der Linde

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. He is the younger brother of South African / German racing driver Kelvin van der Linde.

## Career

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.
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
#### 2019

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. He scored a pole position at Zolder and finished 13th in the standings, 19 points behind teammate Joel Eriksson.

#### 2020

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

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. 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.

#### 2022

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. In the second round of the season at the Lausitzring, he won both races. 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. 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.

### Sports Car Racing

On 2 February, 2025, van der Linde scored the biggest win of his racing career to date when he took out the 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour at the famous Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia. Driving for Belgian outfit Team WRT and driving a BMW M4 GT3, he teamed with Brazilian driver Augusto Farfus and his older brother Kelvin to take a 10 second win over their WRT team mates Raffaele Marciello, Charles Weerts and former multiple MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi.
The win made the van der Linde's just the third set of brothers to win a major race together at Bathurst after Geoghegan's Leo and "Pete" (Ian) who won the 1962 Bathurst Six Hour Classic together, and the Brabham brothers Geoff and David who had won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 Super Touring car race together.

### Formula E

van der Linde served as the reserve driver for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport during the 2020–21 Formula E season.
In April 2023, van der Linde made his debut in a Formula E car during the Berlin rookie test with Jaguar TCS Racing. He would later partake in the rookie test with the team in Rome. van der Linde returned with Jaguar and participated in the rookie free practice session in Misano and the Berlin rookie test.

## Racing record
### Career summary

| 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 |
| 2017 | TCR BeNeLux Touring Car Championship - Junior | Comtoyou Racing | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 55 | 8th |
| 2017 | ADAC GT Masters | Aust Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 27th |
| 2017 | ADAC TCR Germany Touring Car Championship | AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC | 14 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 315 | 3rd |
| 2017 | 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 |
| 2018 | IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 96 | 22nd |
| 2018 | Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 10th |
| 2018 | Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 10th |
| 2018 | Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.5 | 21st |
| 2018 | Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup - Silver Cup | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22.5 | 10th |
| 2018 | VLN Series - SP9 | Audi Sport Team Land | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16.58 | 8th |
| 2018 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Audi Sport Team Land | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 5th |
| 2019 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | BMW Team RBM | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 13th |
| 2019 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | BMW Team Schnitzer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 22nd |
| 2019 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2019 | VLN Series - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.53 | 29th |
| 2019 | VLN Series - SP9 | Falken Motorsports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.53 | 29th |
| 2020 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | BMW Team RBM | 18 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 108 | 6th |
| 2020 | ADAC GT Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 39th |
| 2020 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | Walkenhorst Motorsport | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 10th |
| 2020 | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.65 | 14th |
| 2020 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | BMW Team Schnitzer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 3rd |
| 2020–21 | Formula E | BMW i Andretti Motorsport | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver | Reserve driver |
| 2021 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Rowe Racing | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 11th |
| 2021 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2021 | 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 |
| 2022 | IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro | BMW M Team RLL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 238 | 34th |
| 2022 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2022–23 | Formula E | Jaguar TCS Racing | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver |
| 2023 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 151 | 4th |
| 2023 | GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Team WRT | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 11th |
| 2023 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | Team WRT | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 68 | 5th |
| 2023 | FIA GT World Cup | Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 16th |
| 2023 | IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP | BMW M Team RLL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 851 | 13th |
| 2023 | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC† |
| 2023 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2nd |
| 2023–24 | Formula E | Jaguar TCS Racing | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver | Test driver |
| 2024 | Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters | Schubert Motorsport | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 142 | 6th |
| 2024 | FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar | BMW M Team WRT | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 27th |
| 2024 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | BMW M Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC* |
| 2024 | Intercontinental GT Challenge | Rowe Racing | | | | | | 0 | NC* |
| 2024 | IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTD Pro | Paul Miller Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 319 | 32nd |
| 2024 | GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup | Team WRT | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 48 | 7th |
| 2024 | GT World Challenge America - Pro | Team WRT | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | FIA GT World Cup | Team WRT | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 | Rowe Racing | | | | | | | |
| 2024 | 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP9 | Rowe Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | DNF |
| 2025 | FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar | BMW M Team WRT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 7th* |
| 2025 | IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP | BMW M Team RLL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 540 | 8th* |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(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 |
| 2025 | BMW M Team RLL | GTP | BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW P66/3 4.0 L turbo V8 | DAY 7 | SEB 5 | LBH | LGA | DET | WGL | ELK | IMS | PET | | | | 8th* | 540* |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

(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 1 6 | HOC 2 14 | ZOL 1 11 | ZOL 2 5 | MIS 1 9 | MIS 2 9 | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 Ret | ASS 1 10 | ASS 2 15 | BRH 1 8 | BRH 2 7 | LAU 1 16 | LAU 2 11 | NÜR 1 7 | NÜR 2 16 | HOC 1 16 | HOC 2 13 | 13th | 42 |
| 2020 | BMW Team RBM | BMW M4 Turbo DTM | SPA 1 15 | SPA 2 6 | LAU 1 2 | LAU 2 15 | LAU 1 9 | LAU 2 10 | ASS 1 7 | ASS 2 1 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 6 | NÜR 1 8 | NÜR 2 4 | ZOL 1 6 | ZOL 2 10 | ZOL 1 13 | ZOL 2 7 | HOC 1 10 | HOC 2 9 | 6th | 108 |
| 2021 | ROWE Racing | BMW M6 GT3 | MNZ 1 11 | MNZ 2 4 | LAU 1 9 | LAU 2 5 | ZOL 1 16 | ZOL 2 7 | NÜR 1 6 | NÜR 2 Ret | RBR 1 Ret | RBR 2 Ret | ASS 1 6 | ASS 2 Ret | HOC 1 Ret | HOC 2 Ret | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 16 | | | 11th | 55 |
| 2022 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | ALG 1 7 | ALG 2 8 | LAU 1 1 | LAU 2 1 | IMO 1 8 | IMO 2 5 | NOR 1 Ret | NOR 2 15 | NÜR 1 1 | NÜR 2 9 | SPA 1 12 | SPA 2 2 | RBR 1 11 | RBR 2 11 | HOC 1 2 | HOC 2 3 | | | 1st | 164 |
| 2023 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | OSC 1 Ret | OSC 2 11 | ZAN 1 2 | ZAN 2 10 | NOR 1 1 | NOR 2 3 | NÜR 1 7 | NÜR 2 17 | LAU 1 5 | LAU 2 13 | SAC 1 6 | SAC 2 Ret | RBR 1 13 | RBR 2 2 | HOC 1 20 | HOC 2 4 | | | 4th | 151 |
| 2024 | Schubert Motorsport | BMW M4 GT3 | OSC 1 4 | OSC 2 6 | LAU 1 6 | LAU 2 8 | ZAN 1 6 | ZAN 2 8 | NOR 1 7$^2$ | NOR 2 14 | NÜR 1 13 | NÜR 2 1 | SAC 1 9 | SAC 2 8 | RBR 1 11 | RBR 2 6 | HOC 1 11 | HOC 2 9 | | | 6th | 142 |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(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 |
| 2025 | BMW M Team WRT | Hypercar | BMW M Hybrid V8 | BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8 | QAT 7 | IMO | SPA | LMS | SÃO | COA | FUJ | BHR | 7th* | 9* |
$^*$ Season still in progress.

### 24 Hours of Le Mans results

| 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 |

### 24 Hours of Daytona results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2018 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | Kelvin van der Linde Christopher Mies Jeffrey Schmidt | Audi R8 LMS | GTD | 749 | 27th | 7th |
| 2022 | BMW Team RLL | Philipp Eng Marco Wittmann Nick Yelloly | BMW M4 GT3 | GTD Pro | 665 | 40th | 9th |
| 2023 | BMW Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi Colton Herta Nick Yelloly | BMW M Hybrid V8 | GTP | 652 | 48th | 9th |
| 2024 | Paul Miller Racing | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Neil Verhagen | BMW M4 GT3 | GTD Pro | 730 | 21st | 3rd |
| 2025 | BMW Team RLL | Robin Frijns René Rast Marco Wittmann | BMW M Hybrid V8 | GTP | 777 | 7th | 7th |

### 12 Hours of Sebring results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2018 | Montaplast by Land-Motorsport | Christopher Mies Alessio Picariello | Audi R8 LMS | GTD | 321 | 20th | 4th |
| 2023 | BMW Team RLL | Connor De Phillippi Nick Yelloly | BMW M Hybrid V8 | GTP | 322 | 2nd | 2nd |

### Bathurst 12 Hour results

| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
| 2023 | Team WRT | Dries Vanthoor Charles Weerts | BMW M4 GT3 | Pro | 323 | 4th | 4th |
| 2024 | Team WRT | Dries Vanthoor Charles Weerts | BMW M4 GT3 | Pro | 120 | DNF | DNF |
| 2025 | Team WRT | Kelvin van der Linde Augusto Farfus | BMW M4 GT3 | Pro | 306 | 1st | 1st |