Van der Linde Targeting Unique GTWC Europe, IGTC Title Double

Photo: Gruppe C Photography

Kelvin van der Linde could make history in becoming the first driver to win both the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and Intercontinental GT Challenge overall drivers’ championships in the same year, should the current IGTC points leader pull off the feat in this weekend’s season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.

Van der Linde and Charles Weerts are fresh off winning the GTWC Europe overall drivers’ title in last weekend’s season finale in Barcelona, one month after the duo also picked up the Sprint Cup championship in their No. 32 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

While 2024 IGTC champion Weerts is not able to defend his crown in the globe-trotting GT3 series heading into this weekend’s season finale, van der Linde could pull off the IGTC championship as a solo driver, as he currently sits five points ahead of fellow BMW factory driver Raffaele Marciello.

Speaking with Sportscar365, the South African said it’s been a year of “two different approaches” between his campaigns with BMW in the the pair of SRO Motorsports Group-run GT3 championships.

“GT World Challenge has been a great year for us,” said van der Linde. “It’s just nice to have ticked it off finally because I never really had the chance to go for the overall championship.

“I’ve either done Endurance or Sprint and never have been on competitive lineups throughout the championship. It was the first time I’d been on a consistent lineup throughout the championship.

“Being able to win it in the first year [with BMW] is very nice. IGTC has also gone very, very well.

“To be honest, with IGTC, it’s a bit of a difficult one because obviously I won some races with Augusto [Farfus] and Lello. Actually, I feel like all three of us would have deserved to win it together as a team.

“It’s a bit of a shame that either one of us will win it in the end. It’s the way it goes. It’s difficult to link up all those lineups throughout the year with the different customer programs.”

Making his BMW debut in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, van der Linde hit the ground running with a fourth place class finish with Paul Miller Racing with virtually no time in the car beforehand.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect to get along with the car so well, so soon,” he said.

“I jumped straight into Daytona without testing. I had some feedback from Lello and Dries [Vanthoor], which was initially a bit of an adjustment for them driving-style wise coming from a different manufacturer.

“I don’t know if you can call it luck or what it is, but from Day 1 I felt comfortable with the car and I didn’t have to adjust my driving style too much. I think that’s a very positive thing.

“I didn’t feel like I had to catch up. I was just able to focus on the championship and try and execute, which was a big positive.

“WRT, I would say, won the Sprint championship for us, with the pit stops. I really think that was a championship that was dictated by the team.

“At the end, you need a lot of factors to work together.

“The BMW has been competitive in certain races; I wouldn’t say so much in the Sprint races. In the Sprint we were dictated by quick pit stops that helped us a lot.

“In the end, me and Charles were always in the mix somehow.”

Van der Linde feels it’s been the opposite in IGTC, where he and Augusto Farfus picked up wins in the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and Nürburgring 24, the latter also with Raffaele Marciello, who shared top honors with he and Weerts in the Suzuka 1000km.

“More in the IGTC, we’ve been able to win races in our own hands and really on pure pace win the races,” he said.

“It’s been a year of two different approaches. One approach, in GTWC winning it strategically with a team playing the bigger role and in IGTC, we’ve had the speed on track to help us.”

BMW Focused on Securing IGTC Manufacturers’ Crown in Indy

When asked what their strategy this weekend at The Brickyard, where Team WRT is seeking its third consecutive overall win in the race, van der Linde said there’s a clear hierarchy outlined by the factory squad and the German manufacturer.

“The first priority is the manufacturer title for BMW,” he said. “The second priority is to win the race overall and the third priority is for me and Lello to decide it between the two of us.

“To be honest, I see a very relaxed atmosphere between me and Lello. We had a lot of great wins this year.

“To be very honest with you, if I could choose between winning Bathurst, Nürburgring and Suzuka, I’d take the individual races over winning the [IGTC] championship.

“I think most drivers would probably say that. I’ve won three of the biggest ones. Obviously I missed out on Spa, but if I win the championship or not, I will still look [fondly] back on the year.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John