Sheldon van der Linde has fulfilled a dream by winning the DTM title: This is how the Schubert BMW driver experienced the final day in Hockenheim
Sheldon van der Linde has reached the finish line: the Schubert-BMW driver crowned himself the 2022 DTM Champion at Sunday’s race in Hockenheim. The South African’s relief was palpable after the biggest success of his career to date.
“I haven’t really been able to sleep since Thursday. I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights since last week,” van der Linde revealed after finishing third in the final. He said the best way to describe the moment was to take 300 kilograms and relieve his shoulders with that weight, “because I had so much pressure all weekend. “
“When you start the race as the leader, of course everyone expects you to win the championship. And from the outside it sounds very easy, but there are so many factors that play a role,” van der Linde continues.
In general, Sheldon van der Linde is fulfilling a childhood dream by winning the DTM title. The South African reminisces: “I remember sitting on the couch and watching the Scheiders, the Spenglers, all of them, and also Marco win the championship in 2014. I always wanted to be there. “
BMW gave Sheldon van der Linde a chance in the DTM
But the dream seemed a long way off. Therefore, entering the DTM was Sheldon van der Linde’s first career goal. This was achieved with the brand change from Audi to BMW for the 2019 season, with the Munich-based carmaker giving the then 19-year-old his first chance to prove himself in a Class 1 car.
Van der Linde repaid the favour with a pole position in his debut year and his first race win in September 2020 at Assen. This season, Sheldon van der Linde followed it up with three wins and two more podium finishes before third place on Hockenheim Sunday sealed the championship win. But the final race put his nerves to the test.
Van der Linde struggled at the start in particular. “I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that Auer was only two or three positions back, and that was not a pretty sight. So I knew I had to hold my position from then on,” reported the new champion.
Schubert responds to problems at the start
“I had Dev [Gore] and Marius [Zug] in front of me. They started to fight, which was good for me. Then I knew I had to take the opportunity to pass. I passed both of them in turn 1 and from then on I was really struggling for pace. I had no idea why.” But van der Linde held his ground with aplomb.
At Schubert, they reacted to the problems and scheduled the mandatory pit stop early. Van der Linde’s problems were solved with the tyre change, but he had to defend against Zug again in the final phase with worn tyres. But even fourth place would have been enough to win the title.
This is how the DTM Champion 2022 rejoices! SheldonVanDerLinde DTMFinale Hockenheim pic.twitter.com/bttChlVKaa
– Motorsport-Total.com (@MST_DTM) October 9, 2022
As BMW colleague Marco Wittmann’s victory ensured that Rene Rast could no longer pass him in the overall standings anyway. And Lucas Auer was behind van der Linde on the track anyway. “When Marco passed Rene, that was exactly what I needed to be safe and from then on I knew I had to stay in that position,” said the South African.
Team championship already clear on Saturday
And, “I saw Auer falling back. Every time I came out of the Sachs corner I saw him coming towards the Motodrom, so I had a good clue where he was. And he kept falling back, even though I wasn’t the fastest today. To see that, of course, is telling when you know your title contender is falling a bit further behind.”
Winning the drivers’ championship incidentally crowns a great debut season for Schubert Motorsport in the DTM. They already decided the team championship in their favour in Saturday’s race. “For me, the passion that Torsten [Schubert]’s team displays is sometimes amazing to see,” enthuses van der Linde.
“You don’t have that with all teams, where you really feel they give everything to win, but with this team I felt from the start that they had a lot of confidence in me. They are also a lot freer, which could be helpful in a way because you don’t think about everything so much. “