Sheldon van der Linde will race for ROWE Racing in a BMW M6 GT3 in the 2021 DTM season, the 21 year old South African looking to add to his maiden DTM victory last season and taking on his elder brother Kelvin in the process.
The older van der Linde brother is racing for rival marque Audi in an Abt Sportline-run R8 LMS GT3, the 2021 DTM the first time the pair will go head to head over a full Series.
Sheldon van der Linde has been racing in the DTM as a BMW works driver since 2019, securing his first pole position at Zolder, his maiden victory coming the following year at Assen.
Hans-Peter Naundorf, Team Principal ROWE RACING: “We are very pleased to line up with Sheldon van der Linde in our first DTM season. We consciously went for him, because, on one hand, he is still a young driver. On the other hand, he already has a lot of experience in the DTM and has shown his class there. He is a very good fit for our expectations and ideas for the DTM, and will help us to implement our concept and achieve the best possible performance. The fact that we will see the first sibling rivalry in DTM in this millenium is a nice spin-off for us. I assume it will be an extra motivation for Sheldon to finish ahead of his big brother.”
Sheldon van der Linde: “Firstly, I am delighted still to be racing in the DTM in a BMW. After two years and many highlights in the series, my goal is now to use the experience I have gained. In doing so, I want to help improve both myself and the team. I am very proud to be part of the ROWE RACING project, and would like to thank the team for the trust they have all put in me. On the other side, I am really pleased that Kelvin has also made it into the DTM. We have both always dreamed of driving in the DTM at some point. It is simply unbelievable that, from June, we are actually going to be facing each other in the biggest touring car series in the world.”
