Kelvin van der Linde keeps DTM title hopes alive with Zandvoort pole: “One race at a time”

After scoring only 13 points so far this DTM season, the start has not gone the way Schubert Motorsport and Kelvin van der Linde had hoped. Following an oil leak in Qualifying 1 on Saturday at Zandvoort and starting from the back of the grid, he was unable to salvage a result. Now, the BMW M4 GT3 driver is focused on redemption after grabbing pole on Sunday.

The unlucky streak for the South African driver continued on Saturday at the Dutch circuit after an oil leakage problem prevented him from starting at the front of the field. “We know why it happened,” he explains to GT REPORT. The exact cause, however, remains internal to him and the team. “I think we keep it within the team.”

The BMW driver admits that the difficult start to the season is far from ideal for his championship hopes. He was disqualified in the first race at the Red Bull Ring and only managed to score points that weekend by taking pole position and finishing sixth in the second race of the DTM season opener. “To have one DNF and one DSQ already so early in the season is not ideal for the championship.” But the Schubert Motorsport driver and his team refuse to give up. “We can only look forward and try to perform at our best tomorrow and take as many points as we can.”

That comeback starts this Sunday as Van der Linde grabbed pole for the second race of the weekend. “Let’s see if we can keep the points.”

But he knows it won’t be easy to hold the lead, with Ferrari looking strong since Friday. Vermeulen will start right behind the BMW driver in his Ferrari 296 GT3. “It will be very difficult. I think they were very fast yesterday, especially in the race, so we need to see if we can hold on. I definitely want to see if we can get a podium today.”

After such a difficult start to the season, he is now approaching the rest of the year in his own way. “I just want to go out and look at races one at a time now. I’m not really looking at the championship.”

Despite not focusing on the championship table, giving up is nowhere in his mind, as anything can still happen in a long DTM season. “It’s too early to say,” he says when asked whether the championship dream is already over. “The season is still long, but for sure it doesn’t help. The championship is very close.”