Van der Linde Didn’t Expect WEC Debut “So Soon” in Career

Sheldon van der Linde described stepping up to the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship as a “huge privilege” adding that it is “super cool” to be making his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut at the same time as brother Kelvin.

Van der Linde was recently confirmed as the first driver aboard the No. 20 BMW M Hybrid V8 for the eight-race WEC season as BMW prepares to make its top-class WEC debut with Team WRT.

The South African driver will also be making his world championship debut next year, continuing his relationship with the Munich manufacturer that saw him previously compete in DTM, the Intercontinental GT Challenge as well as Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup.

Van der Linde, 24, is set to become one of the youngest drivers in WEC’s top class next season, with only Alpine’s Charles Milesi, Hertz Team JOTA driver Oliver Rasmussen and Isotta Fraschini signing Alejandro Garcia of younger age.

“Obviously, it’s a huge privilege to be in Le Mans next year,” Van der Linde told Sportscar365.

“That was always my dream as a kid, to race in Le Mans one day. I didn’t think it would happen so soon, to be honest.

“I’m only 24 now and I’ve pretty much driven every car that BMW has had in the last four years, which is a super cool feat and a privilege to obviously have that trust from them.

“But at the same time it’s a big challenge. I haven’t driven I think 80 percent of the tracks on the calendar. So it’s a lot to learn for me.”

Van der Linde will be sharing the WEC grid with older brother Kelvin, who signed on to join Akkodis ASP Team’s Lexus LMGT3 effort and will be racing alongside reigning GTWC Europe Endurance Cup champion Timur Boguslavskiy and Arnold Robin.

The BMW driver described his sibling’s Lexus move as “very unexpected” but added that he liked the idea of continuing their career paths together after previous success in other major events and championship.

“I had no idea that we would both be in Le Mans next year until he literally told me a few weeks [ago] when he got the call,” Sheldon said.

“We obviously spoke about it and it’s cool to have both of us in Le Mans at the same time. We’ve done pretty much every race together, all the big ones.

“Nürburgring 24, Le Mans coming up now as well. So yeah, it’s super cool to do.

“I think Laurens and Dries [Vanthoor] will be there as well, so that’s actually both both pairings. So that’ll be cool for us.”

Van der Linde steps up to top-class competition in WEC without any European prototype experience, although he did join Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly for three rounds of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup this season.

He credits that run, which notably featured BMW’s first GTP success with a second-place finish at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, as a key reason for his inclusion in the WEC lineup.

“BMW have had a lot of trust in me in the last three years,” said Van der Linde.

“I’ve obviously driven this car in IMSA this year in the Endurance Cup so I have race experience in the car as well, which helps.

“I think if it wasn’t for that experience in IMSA, they probably wouldn’t have decided to put me in WEC straight away in Hypercar. So I think that definitely helped.

“But to be 24 in Hypercar I think one of the youngest drivers on the grid for sure alongside Dries, it’s a big honor. Looking forward to that and obviously I hope I can perform for them and reward BMW for giving the trust to me.”