Sheldon Van der Linde clinches first DTM championship with third place at Hockenheim season finale

Sheldon Van der Linde becomes the first-ever South African DTM champion after finishing third in race two at Hockenheim in the season finale, beating nearest contender Lucas Auer by 11 points. As two-time champion, Marco Wittmann won the race from fourth on the grid.

After winning a shocking and chaotic race one at Hockenheim from pole, Lucas Auer looked in prime position to steal the championship from under Sheldon Van der Linde’s nose heading into the final day of the season.

But a disappointing qualifying session that saw Auer only manage eleventh on the grid, 25kg of success ballast, and 5kg in balance of performance saw the title fall from the Austrian’s grasp.

The race start saw Marco Wittmann capitalise from Fourth on the grid to take a surprising lead into the first corner ahead of championship contender René Rast, who needed to win the race to stand any chance of taking his third DTM title.

Sheldon Van der Linde at Hockenheim. Photo: DTM

Rast did his best to get through Wittmann, but the Walkenhorst Motorsport driver held strong. Producing the most memorable racing of the afternoon, at one point seeing the two make contact with Rast coming out ahead. However, a rare mistake from Rast saw Wittmann regain a lead he would not relinquish.

Lucas Auer faded away as the race wore on. Losing positions to Kelvin Van der Linde and Nico Müller as his heavy Mercedes-AMG Team Winward car stopped any charge through the pack.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for the eventual champion Sheldon Van der Linde. As hot on his heels was Marius Zug. Who was eager to claim his first DTM podium, chasing Van der Linde all the way to the Checkered Flag.

But Van der Linde was calm and collected, considering the enormous pressure on his shoulders as a result of the championship situation. The South African just had enough pace to hold off Zug, taking his sixth podium of the season. Completing the clean sweep for Schubert Motorsport, after they clinched the constructors’ championship in Saturday’s race.

While Audi collected the manufacturers’ title, their ninth overall. Bringing to a close a truly memorable 2022 DTM season.