Like so many of their colleagues, Kelvin van der Linde and his brother Sheldon, who is three years younger, earned their spurs in motorsport with karting. While still teenagers, they turned professional and achieved their first major successes. And, as is often the case, the brothers' first career boost opened up opportunities for them to move up to international racing series. Before turning 20, they had been signed by different European Teams and most recently competed against each other in the DTM – until BMW M Motorsport brought the brothers into the same team. The story of Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde is one of ambition, the unconditional will to succeed and the power of family.
Face time with their parents from South Africa: Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde during the ICGT race at Bathurts, 2025
ABOUT.
ABOUT.
His ‘big brother’ Kelvin van der Linde has been driving the BMW M4 GT3 EVO as BMW M Motorsport works driver since the 2025 season, competing in the WEC, the GT World Challenge Europe and the Intercontinental GT Challenge, among others. He achieved his first significant success in motorsport in 2014 when he became ADAC GT Masters champion in his very first season – together with his colleague René Rast, who is now also a works driver for BMW M Motorsport. Van der Linde repeated this success in 2019. He has also won the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring twice, in 2017 and 2022. Kelvin van der Linde's stated greatest wish is to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans one day.
His brother Sheldon has been racing in Europe since 2016 and also achieved a significant triumph in his first ADAC GT Masters season, finishing second in the series in his debut year in 2018. Sheldon van der Linde has been a works driver for BMW M Motorsport since 2019 and achieved his greatest success to date with the brand when he became DTM champion in the BMW M4 GT3 in 2022. In 2025, in their first season together at BMW M, the van der Linde brothers, together with teammate Augusto Farfus, won the 12-hour race at Bathurst right at the start of the season in the BMW M4 GT3.
For the remainder of the 2025 season, Sheldon van der Linde will compete in the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the WEC and IWSC, while his brother Kelvin will be driving the BMW M4 GT3 EVO in international GT competitions.
In Australia, away from the hustle and bustle of the Bathurst racetrack, we met up with the brothers for a chat.
After competing in rival teams, you both are now part of the BMW motorsport family since this season. Is there more competition now between you or more cohesion?
Kelvin van der Linde: I would say we always had a very good working relationship. Even when we were with different manufacturers, we tried to support each other as much as possible. But now, obviously, it's even more intense because we drive for the same manufacturer and we have the same goal. And that's for BMW to win races. Of course, I think it just made everything a bit closer and a bit easier for us to help each other.
Your father Shaun raced BMW Touring cars in his days. How much did he inspire your own careers to go into motorsport?
Sheldon van der Linde: I think it was the biggest reason for us to really go into motorsport. I think when you grow up next to the racetrack, naturally, that's the reference you have. Your dad is your hero when you're three or four years old. When you get taken to the racetrack and you see what he does, you obviously want to do the same at some point. I would say he was the biggest reason for us to get into motorsport. And also, to get into BMW. Because our father raced with BMW locally in South Africa for many years. That's literally all we knew at that time. He was driving M3 company cars, driving us to school and back in his M3. That was something that we wanted to be able to drive at some point in our careers as well. That's where we're lucky enough to be now.
Kelvin, being a few years older than him, were you already a role model for him?
Kelvin: Obviously, when the big brother starts racing karts, the younger one wants to come as well. He was at the karting track, sat in the seat, and he also wanted to drive. I think that helped. Then, obviously, being the older one, he could always watch and see where I'm strong or weak. He could avoid my mistakes and do it better. I think we learned a lot through my career, how to do the right things and make the right steps. With him, we were able to make all the right decisions, which I think helped him quite a lot.
What did it mean to both of you that your parents showed up in person at Le Mans in 2024 to cheer for you?
Sheldon: It was the first time they came to Le Mans. As a family, this is a dream that we had for a long time. My dad always had the goal of racing in Europe and to be in Le Mans at some point. To have them all there for both our debuts at the same time was obviously a huge milestone for the family. I think the fact that we both had our debuts in the same year made it even bigger. Because none of us had been there before, seen the atmosphere. So, it just made the hype a whole lot bigger. And then racing in two different classes, they could see the perspective from the GT3 side and from the LMDh side. I think it was a perfect way to celebrate our Le Mans debut with our family there as well.
Kelvin: It’s always nice to have them at least once a year coming to one of the big races. Obviously, they live so far away, so it’s difficult for them. We always agree as a family that they come to at least one of the 24-hour races. If one of us is competing for the DTM championship, they’d normally come to one of the races. But this year, it was the 24-hour race, which was nice.
As in 2024, this season once again put three 24-hour races back-to-back on your racing calendar; how do you prepare for such an exhaustive challenge and how do you get through it?
Kelvin: It was difficult to prepare because we had never experienced anything like it before. So, it was going into the unknown and just trying to make sure we were fresh and recovered for all the races. This year was quite unique as we had three 24 hour races in dry, very hot conditions. You could see that in Spa all the drivers were really very tired and very fatigued. But I was surprised that We survived it quite easily. I have to say that BMW M4 GT3 EVO is very comfortable, with the air conditioning we have in the car, when compared to what I drove in the past. It makes my life in the car a lot easier. I'm lucky to have been sitting in a BMW M for those few races.
Sheldon, on top of those three 24-hour races, you also had to squeeze in the 6-hours race at Watkins Glen in the US, then jet lag back to Europe and switch from the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 to the #20 car. How would did you manage he stress and strain?
Sheldon: What made it really tough for me is that I had this stint in between. So, I had to travel to America and back. And jet lagging, it's hard to get back into the rhythm again. You start in Le Mans. You end very late. Then you start very early in Spa again. So, you literally land from your flight and go straight to the racetrack on the Tuesday. And there’s a lot of media stuff going on. So, there’s no real time to recover. I just took a few days off. That was tough for me personally, but I really enjoyed it. I think you get into a real good rhythm of how your daily life goes. You get into a really good habit of waking up, going to the media, going to all your appointments. In a way, it also makes it easier to know what to expect in those four weeks. You get into a rhythm as well as saving your energy throughout the days and not using it all at once before the race actually starts.
Sheldon and Kelvin van der Linde celebrating their victory at the 12h Bathurst, 2025
Even when you’re competing against each other, you also seem to enjoy yourselves, you are good buddies, obviously. How important is humour and getting along well together for this job?
Kelvin: To be honest, we don't do the buddy stuff on the track. We're both working. So, there’s time, really, to be bullshitting or talk about life. We do that in South Africa in December, we have a few drinks there, and we enjoy a nice life away from the racing there. But at the track, my brother's busy with his work, and I'm busy with mine. But obviously, you need to have fun because most of our life is at a racetrack, so you need to try and have fun while you're travelling the world.
Sheldon: It’s always different when you see each other at the racetrack because you're in a different state of mind. You're not as easygoing and open as you would be on a holiday or if you were in Germany on a private day in Munich, for example. I think you need to split those two up, but I think we’ll find the right balance.
What do you hope to achieve with BMW M motorsport? What races are you dreaming of winning?
Kelvin: We are happy we won Bathurst together. It was a big one for us. We always wanted to win that. I was lucky enough to win Nürburgring this year with BMW M. For me, it's only really Spa and Le Mans. And maybe Daytona. Then obviously, one day to try and win the DTM title. Those are on my bucket list.
Sheldon: My list is a bit longer. I haven't won a 24-hour race yet. I would say right at the top of my list with BMW M would be the 24 hours of Le Mans, which obviously would be nice to win overall in the LMDh car. Followed by Nürburgring and then Spa shortly after. I've tried for six years now. Always came up short seconds and thirds, the last few years. Hopefully we can try and turn that around in the next two years. Kelvin knows how to win these races, especially the Nürburgring. It would be nice if we could sit in the same car and I could have my first win with him together. That would be nice.
Kelvin, Sheldon, thank you for talking to us.
