Sixteen-year-old Kelvin van der Linde of Johannesburg dominated the second and third rounds of the international Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup one-make series in Austria on Saturday and Sunday with back-to-back victories around the 4,3km Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.
And, just to drive home the message, fellow South African Jordan Pepper of Johannesburg, also 16 and the youngest driver in the series, came third in Saturday’s race – and first of the Junior Cup contenders – after a race-stopping accident two laps from the end of the race put paid to his chances of finishing second.
Van der Linde won Saturday’s race over 10 laps from pole position after it was shortened by two laps, with 19-year-old Michelle Gatting of Denmark second and Pepper third.
REMARKABLE PERFORMANCE
It was a remarkable performance from Van der Linde, who is competing in this one-make series for the first time this year and had never previously raced on the Austrian circuit. Four weeks ago he made his debut in the series at the Hockenheimring Grand Prix circuit in Germany, where he qualified second and finished fourth despite losing the car’s power steering on the opening lap.
Van der Linde now leads the championship with 80 points after three rounds with six remaining. Gatting is second with 72.
Gatting and Van der Linde were involved in a thrilling duel for the lead in Saturday’s race before the young South African got the upper hand and crossed the line with a 5.6-second advantage.
MAINTAINING THE PACE
The top eight finishers started Sunday’s race in reverse order in front of a large crowd who had gathered to watch the main attraction, the German Touring Car Championship. Van der Linde took full advantage of a great start from eighth on the grid to move into the lead by the second lap. He steadily pulled away from the rest of the field to take the chequered flag by a comfortable 10.2 seconds from Gatting and 10.5 seconds ahead of Jensen.
He said later: “My start in Race 1 was not good and Michelle put me under pressure right from the word go - it was a tough but fair duel.
“I had a great start in Race 2 and made up a lot of places on the first lap. Once I got to the front it was just a case of maintaining the pace and making no mistakes.”
Right at the start, Pepper got boxed in on the run down to Turn 2 and from then on was embroiled in a tough battle as his instrument panel failed, leaving him without a rev-counter or shift lights. Driving by ear, he made his way up from eighth to finish a strong fifth, glued to the exhaust of Junior Cup rival Manuel Fahnauer.
Having won the Junior Cup class on Saturday, Pepper now leads the Junior class championship and is fourth in the overall championship standings.
Round three of this natural gas-powered championship will be run at the tricky street circuit of Norisring on 13 July.