– When Kelvin van der Linde was taken out of the race by Maro Engel on the Sachsenring in the last lap, the frustration was great. “Who hit me? What an idiot!”, the unlucky Schubert-BMW driver shouted over the radio. No wonder, because van der Linde failed to finish for the seventh time in 14 season races – and after the Nürburgring at the AMG collision, he was already the second victim of the Mercedes title contender.
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But after the hearing with the race stewards, who handed Engel a 15-second penalty for three penalty laps, van der Linde hugged him despite losing fifth place. “I hugged him because I know how much it hurts him,” van der Linde explains his gesture.
Because the penalty cost Engel eleven points – a significant setback in the title fight. “He has been around for years and wants to realize his dream – and I know how much it hurts when you realize that the chances are fading,” van der Linde empathizes with Engel’s situation.
“I wanted to tell him not to hang his head”
The German-South African knows from his own experience how it feels when the dream of a big triumph bursts despite strong performances: in 2021 and 2024 he fought for the DTM title in the Abt-Audi and finished third once and runner-up once.
“I just wanted to tell him not to hang his head and that it goes on,” says van der Linde. “We have known each other for years, Maro has always supported me even in difficult phases, so there is a lot of respect between us – and that was simply a sign of mutual respect.”
The crash itself is already “closed” for van der Linde, says the 30-year-old. “It is a mistake that happened.”
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Crash “closed” for van der Linde
The fact that the two have known each other since 2014 also plays a role in van der Linde’s reaction. “We have raced many times together, we had great fights on the track, we also had incidents – unfortunately twice in the last two weekends – but we have always had respect for each other,” van der Linde clarifies. “And from my side, it is closed.”
The two GT3 top drivers first raced against each other in van der Linde’s debut year in the ADAC GT Masters, when van der Linde became champion alongside Rene Rast in Christian Abt’s Audi team. Engel was then in the Rowe-Mercedes.
It is known that the two rivals appreciate each other – and also trust each other in duels. The Winward-Mercedes driver expressed this for the first time this DTM season at the opener in Spielberg after his overtaking maneuver against the Schubert-BMW driver.
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Engel is second in the overall standings before the season finale in Hockenheim, 23 points behind Manthey-Porsche driver Thomas Preining. Turning the title fight around will be anything but easy, as only 56 points remain to be won (SPONSORED LINK: Secure tickets now for the DTM finale 2026!).
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