“I’m German now! You won’t get rid of me again!” Kelvin van der Linde caused a few laughs at the DTM press conference before the Norisring weekend on Tuesday when he announced the good news of his successful naturalization. On Monday, the South African-born driver picked up his German passport and dual citizenship.
Kevin… sorry, Kelvin, from Kempten is having a good laugh at the moment anyway: As the leader of the DTM, he is travelling to the only city race on the calendar with his Abt Audi team. After six of 18 races, van der Linde leads the table with 82 points, ahead of Mirko Bortolotti (SSR-Lamborghini, 74 points) and Abt team-mate Ricardo Feller (66 points).
Kelvin van der Linde: “Now I have my own home race”
The German motorsport fans have Kelvin and his younger brother Sheldon has been close to his heart for many years – now ‘KVDL’ also has the corresponding identification document in his pocket. The 28-year-old came to Germany in 2013 and won the VW Scirocco Cup straight away, later followed by two championship wins in the ADAC GT Masters (2014, 2019) and the Nürburgring 24-hour race (2017, 2022) with Audi.
“Now I have my own home race,” joked van der Linde in perfect German before the Norisring weekend, which is also the home race of his team Abt Sportsline. In the past, van der Linde was always fast along the Dutzendteich, but it was not enough for a trophy. Fourth place in the controversial 2021 season finale was his best result so far.
Van der Linde does not want to think about DTM championship
“I was always fast at the Norisring, but that last bit of luck was missing,” said the Abt driver. “I’m still missing a trophy for my collection. I still have my brother’s winner’s trophy (Sheldon won at the Norisring in 2023; ed.) in the basement, but now it’s time for one of my own.”
The Abts have also been waiting for their first win at the Norisring in the GT3 era of the DTM since 2021, but are travelling to Nuremberg with confidence as team leaders. Van der Linde, knowing full well how quickly the wind can change in the DTM, did not want to start a discussion about the championship early on: “It feels great to be the leader of the table after two years of bad luck. After this weekend we might see a direction, but we don’t want to focus too much on the championship.”
The Audi R8 LMS GT3 can usually score points on the 2.162-kilometer Norisring thanks to its braking performance and handling of the bumps, but faces strong competition from Porsche and BMW. GT3 cars from Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari have also already won. Van der Linde: “The Norisring and Hockenheim are the two tracks where every manufacturer can be successful.”
There will be a change in the driver field at the Norisring weekend. You can read what the driver swap at GRT-Lamborghini is all about here: