Kelvin van der Linde went into last season's opening round at Circuit Paul Ricard with a lot of questions. At the time, the South African was a new addition to the BMW works driver line-up following a long spell with Audi. Though he was familiar with Team WRT, the Bavarian brand's M4 GT3 EVO was a very different beast.
"I didn't know how I was going to perform in a new environment," he says. "Obviously I knew the team, but the car was new to me. Going from the rear-engined Audi to a front-engined BMW is a big adaptation, and some drivers have found that change easier than others. I wasn't sure how my driving style was going to fit.
"So I came into Paul Ricard thinking, 'Okay, I just want to have a good start to the year, be in the points.' Realistically, our expectations had to be lower than winning our first race. I think that's only natural."
With this being the case, Van der Linde was surprised by just how well that opening weekend went. Sharing with Ugo de Wilde and Team WRT stalwart Charles Weerts, he took over the #32 BMW for the final two hours of the six-hour race, emerging a close second to the #96 Rutronik Racing Porsche. The BMW appeared to come alive in the cooler conditions, and Van der Linde quickly dispatched the long-time leader, pulling clear to win by 4.3 seconds.
"We pretty much smashed it out the park straight away," he says, still sounding a little shocked. "It was a very positive surprise and also good motivation for the rest of the season. It gave everyone within the team a signal that we were in the mix, that we were there to fight for some more podiums."
While he was a new addition to the BMW fold, Van der Line had already driven for Team WRT during his stint with Audi, winning GT World Challenge races in Sprint and Endurance. This undeniably helped his adaptation to life with BMW.
"When you come into a team that knows your past, they know your strengths and weaknesses," he says. "They also respect your way of working, because otherwise they wouldn't bring you back. I think that level of trust means a lot to a driver coming into a new environment, because it takes some pressure off; you don't have to prove yourself. The team knows what you can do when you're at your best and that makes a big difference."
"You don't want to jeopardise a very important friendship"
Despite their winning start, the #32 crew experienced an up and down Endurance campaign. But the Sprint Cup was another matter as Weerts and Van der Linde combined to claim the title, with Kelvin making the winning pass on his childhood friend Jordan Pepper at the Valencia finale.
Fast forward a few months and Pepper is now a BMW driver, having switched from Lamborghini over the winter. In the Endurance Cup, he will join Weerts and Van der Linde in the #32 car to form one of the strongest line-ups on the grid.
"It's awesome, I'm very very excited for it," says Kelvin. "Looking back to last year's finale in Valencia, it was a bit awkward for us fighting each other. It's a similar energy and emotion that I have when I fight my brother [Sheldon, another BMW factory driver] on-track: when you have such a good connection off-track, you don't want a racing incident or something to ruin that! You want to be cut-throat, you want to have that racing driver instinct, but at the same time you also don't want to jeopardise a very important friendship."
It's no surprise that Van der Linde likens Pepper to a brother: their friendship goes back further than he can remember.
"We started racing against each other when we were six, but our dads used to race against each other and for sure me and Jordan were somewhere in a pram at the track watching them!" He laughs. "Later we shared an apartment – me, my brother and Jordan – and our dream was to drive a big 24-hour race together, and hopefully win it."
While that may not happen this year, Van der Linde and Pepper have a very realistic shot at winning the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa alongside Weerts. Though he just recently turned 25, the Belgian has long been viewed as a senior member of the WRT squad.
"Charles is a very mature character for his age," confirms Kelvin. "His level-headedness brings a lot of calm to the team and the working environment. We have a lot of trust and I think in endurance racing that is so important. Charles doesn't feel like he needs to be in the spotlight to have success. I think that is his strength as a human and as a race driver."
New season, new challenge
Having won last year, and with the addition of Pepper, it would be reasonable to say that the #32 BMW is the favourite for victory in the opening race of 2026. But, in such a competitive series, that status means very little. There are at least a dozen cars that can win, and several others that might spring a surprise.
"It's always a tricky when you come back as the defending winner of a race like this, because the only goal is to repeat it," says Kelvin. "Everything else is kind of a disappointment! Every year is different; it's a different beast. I saw a post on the GT World Challenge Instagram page recently with pictures of the different winners over the last two seasons; I don't think there's been a repeat winner for a very long time!"
There is one very important difference from last year: Van der Linde no longer questions whether he can perform at the wheel of the BMW. That was answered emphatically in 2026. Now, he's just eager to hit the track again.
"It's great to think the season's already about to start," he says with genuine enthusiasm. "Winter is over and off we go again – back to the circus!"
Did you know...
By finishing third at the 2018 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Kelvin and Sheldon van der Linde became the first siblings since the Micangeli brothers in 1986 to share the podium at the Ardennes enduro. With both Van der Lindes now part of the BMW factory roster, there is a chance that they'll do so again in the future.
