Dainfern driver impresses in Germany

Dainfern resident, Kelvin van der Linde, scored his third win in a row when he took the honours in the fourth round of the International Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup at the Norisring in Germany. The Cup sees nine countries race in identical VW Scirocco R sports coupes.

The 17-year-old comfortably won the 21-lap race around the demanding street circuit in the city of Nuremburg. Danish driver Michelle Gatting (19) came in 2.5 seconds slower at second place, and third was Germany’s Manuel Fahrnauer (19), who was 3.1 seconds behind the winner.

Van der Linde started third on the grid and, after taking the lead on lap three from polesitter Nicolaj Møller Madsen of Denmark, steadily pulled away from the 22-strong field.

With four of the championship’s nine rounds completed, Van der Linde has 140 points and a lead of 20 points over his closest rival, Gatting.

“Going into the weekend, I never expected to win at the Norisring,” said the Grade 11 student from Dainfern College. “The race is the toughest of the season, as the gaps between each car are so small that anyone can come out on top. I made a good start, which allowed me to overtake Michelle on the first lap. When I then passed Nicolaj Møller Madsen shortly after that, I used the push-to-pass system to open up a gap. I also timed the re-start after the safety car phase perfectly. The overall standings obviously look very good now, but there are still five races to go,” he said.

“I would like to dedicate my win to Allan Simonsen, in whose memory we all bore a sticker on our cars. He was a fantastic racing driver, and was in the thoughts of all the Scirocco R-Cup drivers today,” added van der Linde. Danish sports car driver Simonsen died in an accident at the start of the recent Le Mans 24 Hour in France.

The next rounds are at the Nurburgring in Germany on August 17 and 18.