Kelvin returns to form with a Sachsenring win
DEFENDING ADAC GT Masters champion Kelvin van der Linde has broken a long dry spell with his first win of the 2015 season.
In temperatures of over 30 degrees - which must have reminded him of his home in Johannesburg - at the Sachsenring in eastern Germany, he and new team-mate Stefan Wackerbauer took their Audi R8 LMS Ultra to a cliff-hanger finish, less than one second ahead after a glorious duel with the Bentley Continental GT3 of Clemens Schmid and Fabian Hamprecht on Sunday.
“I have no words,” said a delighted Van der Linde, who also won here in 2014. “Sachsenring is my favourite track; things could not have gone more perfectly than they did today.”
Klaus Bachler and Martin Raginger finished third in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, just 12 seconds down after 80 minutes and 41 laps of the 3.6km circuit.
At the start Van der Linde slotted into third behind Bachler's Porsche and Hamprecht in the Bentley - and stayed out a lap longer when the leaders went in for their mandatory driver change.
A very slick pit stop by the C.Abt Racing pit crew had the red Audi ready to go before either of them and Wackerbauer got back on the circuit just ahead of Schmid’s Bentley and Ragginger, taking the second shift in the Porsche. Schmid put the 19-year-old GT Masters rookie under continuous pressure throughout the second stint but was never able to make the pass, eventually conceding defeat by about two car lengths.
Unfortunately Van der Linde’s Audi was unable to finish the weekend’s opening race held on Saturday after contact with another car, but Sunday’s win lifted the duo to 16th in the championship standings with two rounds to go.
Fellow South African Jordan Lee Pepper, team-mate of Danish Driver Nicki Thim in a second C.Abt Audi R8 managed ninth in Sunday’s heat, but were also unable to finish on Saturday. The next race will be held at Zandvoort in the Netherlands on September 19 and 20.