Kelvin van der Linde is also enjoying success in Sim RacingThe South African, who hopes to defend his title in this year’s Super Sports Cars League, driving Rutronik Racing’s Audi R8 LMS with partner, Patric Niederhauser, is currently contesting the Redline E-Sports series where he is pitting his skill against some 40 motor racing drivers, including Formula 1 aces such as Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, plus other ADAC GT Masters stars, among them, Niederhauser, Christopher Mies, Dries Vanthoor and several sim racers.
South African driver Van der Linde trains on a simulator at home in his apartment in Kempten, Bavaria and has achieved a great deal of success in the five races staged so far. He won the very first round at Spa, swept the board in the third event at Watkins Glen, winning both races, and went on to take second and third place in the next round at Road America. With a total of three victories, van der Linde is one of the front-runners ahead of Friday’s final heat and is the second-most successful driver after Max Verstappen, who has finished first six times so far.
„Our slogan is ‘Real Racers never quit,“ said van der Linde. „We set up the series about two weeks ago. There were ten of us or so, swapping notes in a WhatsApp group when we got the idea of setting something in motion. Everyone contacted their buddies and we now have almost 100 racing drivers in our group. To have a bit of fun is clearly our main objective, but nevertheless, the racing is still very close. As many as 30 drivers are covered by just one second sometimes in qualifying.“
23-year-old van der Linde is amazed at the way people have reacted to the series: „We’ve been pleasantly surprised to find just how much interest there has been and not just from drivers. The series also really appeals to fans, you know, and around 100,000 fans watched live streaming from the first event.“
Van der Linde will be back racing this Saturday, 4th April, from 6.00 pm onwards, in a special charity sim racing event organised by Rutronik Racing, his ADAC GT Masters team. In the #RaceForGood, professional racing drivers will go up against sim racers and will have to prove themselves in various motor racing disciplines on the way to the final, a bit like in the Race of Champions. Apart from van der Linde, Super Sports Car League team-mates, Patric Niederhauser, Dennis Marschall and Carrie Schreiner will also be in the line-up as will DTM champion and ex-ADAC GT Masters champion René Rast, Formula E driver António Félix da Costa, former DTM driver Filipe Albuquerque, ex-Formula 1 driver Tiago Monteiro and YouTuber Felix van der Laden, a race winner from last year’s ADAC GT4 Germany. All monies raised from the event will go to the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. You too can now make donations to the #RaceForGood at www.laureus.de/spenden.
„We want to use the time now productively and counter the many negative reports doing the rounds with something positive,“ said Rutronik Racing Team Principal, Fabian Plentz. „The Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is a charitable organisation that supports sports projects aimed specifically at socially disadvantaged children and young people. With our event, we want to ensure that these community-based sports projects will still have the financial means to go on supporting children and young people once the current crisis is over. We are especially pleased to have so many professional racing drivers on board, and it’s real nice to see everyone in motorsport coming together at such a difficult time in history.“