Van der Linde: Third N24 Win “Particularly Special”

Kelvin van der Linde hailed his third overall victory in the Nürburgring 24 as “particularly special,” as his first 24-hour race win with BMW served as the final dismissal of any ‘self-doubts’ over whether or not he would be able to “fit in well” after joining the Munich manufacturer.

The South African drove the No. 98 ROWE Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO to victory on Sunday, initially crossing the line in second place but being declared the winner after the No. 911 Manthey EMA Porsche 911 GT3 R received a 100-second penalty for a collision with an Aston Martin GT4 car.

Van der Linde held two previous N24 victories from his time as an Audi factory driver, winning with Land Motorsport in 2017 and Phoenix Racing in 2022.

Now, with a third win, he pulls level with the likes of Klaus Ludwig, Markus Winkelhock, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Frank Stippler.

“It’s particularly special because I’ve always said this is my highlight race,” Van der Linde told Sportscar365 when asked about the significance of a third overall victory in the Eifel endurance classic.

“This is the race that I come for every year and the race that I definitely don’t want to be missing ever.

“It’s a race that kind of gave my first chance to prove myself in endurance racing.

“It’s one that just has become so special, because whether I come here for DTM or for the N24, it always seems to go well. It’s been really, really kind to me, this place.

“I think the win [with] BMW also makes it very emotional, because it was a long winter time not knowing where I was going to go, at times really not sure what the right decision is and moments of self-doubt.

“Will I match the car, will I fit in well? And I can say with absolute confidence that it was the right decision to come to BMW.

“We’ve achieved way more than we ever could have imagined this year. [Winning] Bathurst, leading GT World Challenge Europe.

“Obviously, I would love to carry on winning for the rest of the year. That would be great, but if the season were to stop now, I’d just be more than happy.”

Van der Linde explained that tire conservation was a key aspect of the race during afternoon running, especially considering the ambient temperatures on Sunday.

“It was getting quite critical with the tires,” he said.

“I saw on the onboard display that the tures were well over 110 degrees, and that’s obviously a bit of an alarm because you don’t want to blister the tires during an eight lap stint.

“We saw that with the Manthey Porsche, two laps before the end of the second to last stint it really started to struggle.

“So maybe taking a little bit of that peak pace out to save the tire paid off in that stint, but once they put new tires on they were flying again and I couldn’t really keep the pace.

“We knew at this race you needed to finish to finish first. That’s exactly what he did, I think that was the strategy.

“Save the car, make sure there’s no puncture and bring it home.”