Sheldon van der Linde (born 13 May 1999), also known by his initials SVDL, is a South African motor racing driver currently employed by BMW as a factory driver. Van der Linde competed in DTM between 2019 and 2024, and in LMDh since 2024. He is the 2022 DTM champion and 2025 Bathurst 12 Hour winner, and the younger brother of 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-ten. 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 ten-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 teammates 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.
After missing the opening round of the 2026 WEC season, van der Linde became the first South African to win a FIA World Endurance Championship race overall, taking victory at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with Robin Frijns and René Rast.
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 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 ADAC1410243153rd 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 - SP9Audi Sport Team Land5010016.588th 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/A5th 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 - SP910000N/ADNFVLN Series - SP92000010.5329th Falken Motorsports10000 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 - SP9BMW Team Schnitzer3000022.6514th 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910001N/A3rd 2020–21 Formula E BMW i Andretti MotorsportReserve driver 2021 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters Rowe Racing 16 0 1 1 0 55 11th 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910001N/A2nd 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 Racing10000N/ADNF 2022–23 Formula E Jaguar TCS RacingTest 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 Challenge52022685th FIA GT World Cup10000N/A16th IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP BMW M Team RLL 3 0 0 0 1 851 13th Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9Rowe Racing201000NC† 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910001N/A2nd 2023–24 Formula E Jaguar TCS RacingTest driver2024 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 WRT50002487th GT World Challenge America - Pro111110NC† FIA GT World Cup10000N/A3rd Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9 Rowe Racing 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910000N/ADNF 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP BMW M Team RLL 9 0 0 1 1 2469 8th FIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar BMW M Team WRT 7 0 0 0 1 47 9thGT World Challenge Europe Endurance CupTeam WRT10000425thIntercontinental GT Challenge210013310thFIA GT World Cup10000N/A6th 2026 IMSA SportsCar Championship - GTP BMW M Team WRT 9 1 0 1 3 2650 6thFIA World Endurance Championship - Hypercar 5 1 0 0 2 65 4th*Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie - SP9Rowe Racing 24 Hours of Nürburgring - SP910001N/A 3rd * Season still in progress.
Complete ADAC GT Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2017 Aust Motorsport Audi R8 LMSOSC1OSC2LAU1LAU2RBR1RBR2ZAN1ZAN2NÜR1NÜR2 SAC1 SAC2HOC1HOC2 27th 20 2018 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC1 OSC2 MST1 MST2 RBR1 RBR2 NÜR1 NÜR2 ZAN1 ZAN2 SAC1 SAC2 HOC1 HOC2 2nd 1362020Schubert MotorsportBMW M6 GT3 LAU1 LAU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 HOC1 HOC2 SAC1 SAC2 RBR1 RBR2 LAU1 LAU2 OSC1 OSC2 39th 6
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 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 52nd 36 2018 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport GTD Audi R8 LMS GT3 Audi 5.2 L V10 DAY SEB MOH DET WGL MOS LIM ELK VIR LGA PET 22nd 96 2022 BMW M Team RLL GTD Pro BMW M4 GT3 BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 DAY 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 DAYSEB LBH LGA WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 13th 851 2024 Paul Miller Racing GTD Pro BMW M4 GT3 BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin-Turbo I6 DAY 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 SEB LBH LGA DET WGL ELK IMS PET 8th 2469 2026 BMW M Team WRT GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 BMW P66/3 4.0 L turbo V8 DAY SEB LBH LGA DET WGL ELK IMS PET 6th 2650Source: * Season still in progress.
Complete GT World Challenge Europe results GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) YearTeamCarClass1234567Pos.Points2018 Belgian Audi Club Team WRTAudi R8 LMSPro MNZ SIL LEC CAT10th34 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H 2021 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 Pro MON LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT 28th 4 2023 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Pro MNZ LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT 11th 26 2024 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Pro LEC SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR MNZ JED 7th 48 2025 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo Pro LEC MNZ SPA6H SPA12H SPA24H NÜR CAT 25th 4
GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos. Points 2018 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS Silver ZOL1 ZOL2 BRH1 BRH2 MIS1 MIS2 HUN1 HUN2 NÜR1 NÜR2 10th 22.5
Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)