Kelvin van der Linde is fired up and ready to dominate once again in the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS after his sensational sweep of both Sprint and overall titles last year alongside Charles Weerts. The South African powerhouse, fresh off joining BMW as a factory driver in 2025, is determined to keep the momentum blazing, despite the stiff challenges lining up against him.
Van der Linde’s 2024 campaign was nothing short of extraordinary. Alongside his GT World Challenge success, he conquered some of the most grueling endurance races globally, including triumphs at the Bathurst 12 Hour, Nürburgring 24 Hours, Suzuka 1000km, and the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS. His relentless drive propelled him to the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship, cementing his status as a global GT superstar.
However, the road ahead isn’t without its hurdles. Van der Linde will miss out on defending his IGTC crown this year due to a return to DTM, which conflicts with the final two IGTC rounds. Still, he remains laser-focused on his core GT3 program and believes that the continuity with his team and co-drivers will be a game-changer.
Reuniting with Charles Weerts for the full season, and welcoming BMW factory driver Jordan Pepper to complete the trio for the five Endurance Cup events starting at Paul Ricard, van der Linde is optimistic. He explained the value of stability in a high-pressure environment, emphasizing how it allows the team to shift from simply building driver confidence to fine-tuning the car’s performance—a subtle but crucial difference in race weekend dynamics.
“It’s great because I think the stability is good for any team,” van der Linde said. “It means we shift our focus from working on driving and feeling comfortable to shifting the energy towards improving the car and improving the setup on a race weekend. That’s a big shift in terms of the way your weekend goes.”
Despite last year’s dominance, van der Linde acknowledges the immense challenge of repeating such a feat. With rival teams and manufacturers sharpening their attacks, the spotlight is firmly on BMW to deliver. But rather than shy away, van der Linde is fueled by the pressure.
“There’s so many top lineups and teams every year and the focus is on us after the year we had last year,” he said. “For sure they’re not going to make it easy for us to come and defend the titles but that also gives me the extra motivation to go and execute better, make less mistakes and essentially that’s what wins championships.”
The 29-year-old driver is confident in his and his team’s ability to perform flawlessly, insisting that precision execution will be the key to securing back-to-back titles. “I’m confident in terms of execution. As we’ve proven in the past, we’ll be spot on with that. I’m motivated to carry on pushing for another title.”
Van der Linde singled out British manufacturers McLaren and Aston Martin as the biggest threats, highlighting their renewed factory support and rising competitiveness. “If you look at the trend from last year, a lot of the British manufacturers seem to be eyeing at race wins and are looking more and more competitive, especially Aston Martin. McLaren had a big resurgence last year. It also looks like they’re putting in a bigger effort in terms of sending factory drivers into their programs.”
Charles Weerts, van der Linde’s teammate and co-champion, echoed the sentiment on the fierce competition, recalling how the Sprint Cup title was clinched only in the final race at Valencia. “In Sprint we managed to get the title in the very last race. We saw how tough it was for everybody. The level is very high.”
Weerts praised the strength of their lineup with the addition of Jordan Pepper, underlining the combined speed and skill of all three drivers, as well as the strategic prowess of their team, WRT. “Everybody knows how quick he is and everybody knows how quick Kelvin is also. We all know how good WRT is to get the cars in the right window and to race at the right strategy.”
The one glaring omission from their trophy haul last year was the GTWC Europe Endurance Cup, which slipped away to Rutronik Racing’s formidable trio despite the No. 32 BMW M4 GT3 EVO’s victory at the Paul Ricard season opener.
Looking ahead, Weerts expressed determination to fill that gap, aiming to fully dominate all facets of the championship this time around. “I think it’s going to be up to us to deliver to where we belong and hopefully we can fight for a championship in Endurance Cup. I don’t think any of us three have won yet.”
With van der Linde’s tenacity, Weerts’ consistency, and Pepper’s raw speed, coupled with BMW’s relentless engineering and strategy, the stage is set for a titanic battle in GT World Challenge Europe. The competition is tougher than ever, but if last season was any indication, these champions are ready to wage war and claim their place at the summit once more. The countdown to another epic season of GT3 racing has officially begun.
