Prosperia C Abt Racing has reinforced its team by taking on a talented young driver for the 2014 ADAC GT Masters season. South African Kelvin van der Linde will take the wheel of one of the three Audi R8 LMS ultras prepared by the reigning Super Sports Car League team champions. The 17 year old rookie from Johannesburg won last year's Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup, a DTM support series, and is now set to continue his career in the ADAC GT Masters.

"I'm very pleased to have secured a place at Prosperia C Abt Racing," said van der Linde. "It's nice to still be competing in a car made by the Volkswagen Group, and I'll be gaining even more useful experience in the ADAC GT Masters after my year in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup. I'm stepping up to a new level with this start in the ADAC GT Masters and getting ever closer to my goal of securing a seat in the DTM."

Van der Linde first started kart racing in South Africa at the age of nine. He switched to circuit racing when he was 15, becoming the youngest ever winner of the Northern Regions Goldwagen Challenge series for Volkswagen saloon cars in South Africa. He finished third in the national Volkswagen Cup that same year and was named Talent of the Year. Before clinching the title in the Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup in his first international motor racing season, van der Linde won the previous year's Volkswagen Polo Cup in South Africa.

Success brought van der Linde to the FIA's attention. Last year, he won through against other African candidates, vying for a place on the FIA Young Driver Excellence Academy junior programme.

The young driver will have a hectic season this year with racing in the ADAC GT Masters, school back home in Johannesburg and the FIA young driver programme. "I'm up for the challenge. Last year too was very full, what with school and the Scirocco Cup, but I managed quite well."

"I would like to thank everyone who has made my start in the ADAC GT Masters possible this year. Chief among them, Christian Abt, who is showing his confidence in me by entrusting me with one of his cars and I don't want to disappoint."

Who will partner Kelvin van der Linde at Prosperia C Abt Racing has yet to be decided.