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🇿🇦 Sheldon van der Linde

Racing driver from South Africa. IMSA WeatherTech, BMW M Team WRT. One-time champion.
Driver facts
Full name
Sheldon van der Linde
Born
13 May 1999(b. 1999)
Nationality
South Africa
Current team
BMW M Team WRT
Series
IMSA WeatherTech
Status
Active
Championships
12022
Career wins
12
Career podiums
32
Career starts
169
Career DNFs
8
Racer Rating
5,889
Sheldon van der Linde
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Racer Rating
5,889
Rank 327 of 38,983 indexed, +296 this season
FIA Categorisation
Platinum
FIA driver categorisation
Source: fia.com
Synthesized from 1 source, updated 0h ago

Sheldon van der Linde is a racing driver from South Africa who competes in IMSA WeatherTech for BMW M Team WRT. van der Linde is a one-time champion (2022), with 12 wins and 32 podiums from 169 starts.[1]

A Racer Rating of 5,889 ranks van der Linde 327th of 38,983 indexed drivers, on an Elo scale where the strongest reach the high 8,000s. It is built from every indexed race in the driver's file.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications
2026 form
Last 20 races, finish position (higher is better)
P1P5P10P20DNFUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSAUSADEUUSAUSA
Recent results
Tap a row for the full race
2026-07-12SAO PAULO HYPERCARWECP8—
2026-06-28Watkins Glen International GTPIMSA WeatherTechP4+37
2026-06-13LE MANS HYPERCARWECP2+122
2026-05-30Detroit Street Course GTPIMSA WeatherTechP9−113
2026-05-14Nürburgring Nordschleife SP 9Nürburgring 24 HoursP3+67
Career-best drives
Ranked by rating won, which prices the opposition
Rating wonRaceSeriesFinish
+185Assen 2020DTMP1
+173Lausitzring 2020DTMP2
+154Nürburgring 2024DTMP1
+150Mount Panorama Circuit 2025Bathurst 12 HourP1
+149Road Atlanta 2017IMSA WeatherTechP1
Circuits
Rating per start against their own form that season
Raises their game
Monza4 starts+26
Assen4 starts+9
Zandvoort4 starts+9
Nürburgring Nordschleife24 starts+7
Struggles
Road Atlanta4 starts-21
Hockenheimring6 starts-13
Norisring6 starts-11
Daytona International Speedway5 starts-10
Season by season
SeasonSeriesTeamRacesWinsPodiumsDNFsPolesPointsPosGain/LossRating
2026▸IMSA WeatherTechBMW M Team WRT601000P9−435,889
▸WECBMW M Team WRT312000—+272
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursROWE RACING101000—+67
2025▸IMSA WeatherTechBMW M Team RLL901000P10−1225,593
▸WECBMW M Team WRT701100P8+77
▸Bathurst 12 HourTeam WRT111000—+150
▸GT World Challenge EuropeTeam WRT100000P34+41
2024▸DTMSchubert Motorsport1611000P9+745,448
▸WECBMW M Team WRT800300P20−443
▸GT World Challenge EuropeTeam WRT402000P13+33
▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieROWE RACING200000—+18
▸Bathurst 12 HourTeam WRT100100—−205
▸GT World Challenge AmericaTeam WRT111000—+147
▸IMSA WeatherTechPaul Miller Racing101000P24+58
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursROWE RACING100100—−213
2023▸DTMSchubert Motorsport1414010P4−525,979
▸GT World Challenge EuropeTeam WRT300000P30+48
▸IMSA WeatherTechBMW M Team RLL301000P14−128
▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieROWE RACING200000P17+75
▸GT World Challenge AmericaTeam WRT111000—+114
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursROWE RACING101000—+75
2022▸DTMSchubert Motorsport1536020P1+7795,847
▸IMSA WeatherTechBMW M Team RLL200000P29↑100−174
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursROWE RACING100100—−131
▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieROWE RACING100000P23+75
2021▸DTMRowe Racing1000010P11−2225,198
▸GT World Challenge EuropeWalkenhorst Motorsport200000P39−88
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursROWE RACING101000—+111
2020▸DTMBMW Team RBM1812000P6+3275,390
▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieBMW Team Schnitzer300000P14+285
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursBMW Team Schnitzer101000—+88
2019▸DTMBMW Team RBM1600010P12−2114,904
▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieFalken Motorsports200000P23+18
▸Nürburgring 24 HoursBMW Team Schnitzer100100—−139
2018▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieMontaplast by Land-Motorsport500000P18↑451−1475,058
▸IMSA WeatherTechMontaplast by Land-Motorsport200000P26−75
2017▸Nürburgring Langstrecken-SerieAC Mayen 1927 e.V. Porsche212000P12+3,9765,326
▸IMSA WeatherTechMontaplast by Land-Motorsport111000P24↑2,108+149
Recent coverage
No recent coverage found.
Head-to-head
Most-raced and strongest-beaten: times van der Linde finished ahead vs behind
RivalRatingRacedAheadBehindRecord
🇩🇪 Marco WittmannFIA Platinum5,739112526046%
🇦🇹 Lucas AuerFIA Platinum5,44376423455%
🇦🇹 Rene RastFIA Platinum6,10874215328%
🇦🇹 Philipp EngFIA Platinum5,52774373750%
🇩🇪 Maro EngelFIA Platinum6,38572393354%
🇮🇹 Mirko BortolottiFIA Platinum4,88170304043%
🇨🇭 Nico MüllerFIA Platinum6,39969195028%
🇩🇪 Luca StolzFIA Platinum5,44367363154%
🇦🇹 Kelvin Van der LindeFIA Platinum5,63665254038%
🇨🇭 Ricardo FellerFIA Platinum4,86756312555%
🇳🇱 Max VerstappenFIA Platinum, 4× champion8,724110100%
🇯🇵 Alex PalouFIA Platinum, 4× champion7,65964267%
🇳🇿 Liam LawsonFIA Platinum7,30082625%
Raced wheel-to-wheel, not as team-mates
On the leaderboard
Global rank, 38,983 drivers indexed
#DriverSeriesRating
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319🇦🇹 Hans BinderFormula 15,908
320🇦🇹 Helmut MarkoFormula 15,907
321🇩🇪 Nick HeidfeldFormula E5,906
322🇬🇧 Ken WhartonFormula 15,898
323🇫🇷 Pascal FabreFormula 15,898
324🇸🇪 Gunnar NilssonFormula 15,897
325🇺🇸 Pete LovelyFormula 15,896
326🇩🇰 Nicolas KiesaInternational Formula 30005,895
327🇿🇦 Sheldon van der LindeIMSA WeatherTech5,889
328🇫🇷 Pierre LeveghFormula 15,887
329🇧🇷 Chico LandiFormula 15,883
330🇩🇪 Hans HerrmannFormula 15,881
331🇮🇹 Lamberto LeoniInternational Formula 30005,880
332🇺🇸 Layne RiggsNASCAR Truck5,880
333🇩🇰 Tom KristensenWEC5,879
334🇺🇸 Pat O'ConnorFormula 15,876
335🇬🇧 Alan BrownFormula 15,870
336🇦🇺 Alan JonesFormula 15,869
337🇮🇹 Vincenzo SospiriIndyCar5,869
Full leaderboard →
RacerDB. Race results and driver ratings.Aggregated from 1 source, synced 26h ago
Series and team names are trademarks of their respective owners.Privacy
Synthesized from 2 sources, updated 27h ago

Sheldon van der Linde is a Platinum-graded professional racing primarily in DTM, a national single-class sprint championship run in Germany, for Schubert Motorsport. He also competes in major international endurance series including the FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech, and the Nürburgring 24 Hours, racing GT3 cars for BMW. His rating of 5,915 places him among established professionals.[1]

Van der Linde won the DTM title in 2022, his maiden championship, and has taken six victories across 89 starts in the series; he ranks among the championship's leading contenders in his regular seasons. In endurance racing he has been less frequent but broadly successful, with wins in the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour, the 2025 WEC season, and the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. His record spans nine seasons from 2017 to date, with 169 starts and 12 wins across all series. In the current 2026 WEC season, he has taken one win and two podiums from three rounds so far.[2]

His regular opposition in DTM includes established professionals Marco Wittmann, a Formula 3 European champion with 127 DTM starts, and Lucas Auer, a 2024 GT World Challenge Europe champion; he races closely matched against both. In endurance competition he has finished ahead of Álex Palou, a four-time IndyCar champion, on multiple occasions and once outfinished Max Verstappen in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, though those remain single instances within broader fields rather than head-to-head duels.

Sources: [1] Indexed race classifications[2] Wikipedia
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