3 October 2013
After an intensive three-day evaluation at the Gerotek vehicle testing facility near Pretoria, South African teenager Kelvin Van der Linde earned selection to the FIA Institute’s 2013/14 Young Driver Excellence Academy, it was announced on Wednesday.
He now has the rare opportunity to follow in the footsteps of previous participants in the Academy who have gone on to drive in Formula One and the World Rally Championship.
Van der Linde, 17, won his place on the fully-funded Academy programme after demonstrating his ability not just on the track but also in terms of fitness and understanding of safety and vehicle dynamics.
There were three judges on the selection panel – Kate Robson, representing the FIA Institute, Norbert Filippits, representing Academy training partner TTI, and Richard Leeke, representing event host Motorsport South Africa.
Clear choice
As soon as it was known that Van der Linde was in consideration for the win, the South African judge removed himself from the final selection procedure. The South African teenager was the clear choice of the other two judges.
‘A big honour’
After learning of his selection, Van der Linde said: “It’s a big honour for myself, my country and my continent to be able to go out and compete against the elite of the world. It’s a major step and I realise I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.”
Steve Miller, chairman of Motorsport South Africa, which hosted the event on behalf of the FIA Institute, added: “It was an honour for Motorsport South Africa to host this event, and my thanks go out to the team that have put the event together.
‘Delighted’
“Obviously, I’m also delighted that the judges chose Kelvin as the winner, but it is clear that all the drivers benefitted from the experience.”
On the final day of the selection event, the 12 drivers were whittled down to five, who competed in a shoot-out on track. They included Cole Bond (Zimbabwe), Cristian Bouche (Mozambique), Tejas Hirani (Kenya) and Mark Sternagel (Namibia).
Ultimately, the choice of Van der Linde as the regional winner was based not only on the shoot-out result but on all-round skills displayed over the three days.
Regional winners
He now joins Lithuania’s Ignas Gelzinis, the winner of the European regional event, and Saudi Arabia’s Abdullah Bamogaddam, the winner of the Middle East and Mediterranean event, on the Academy programme.
They will be joined by the winners of the Americas and Asia Pacific selection events taking place at the end of the month and three additional wild card entries to form the eight-driver selection of the Academy.
Beginning in December, the next Academy provides a fully-funded training programme, which aims to help drivers develop their motor sport careers, while increasing safety skills and actively promoting the principles of safety, fairness and responsibility on and off the track.
SAinfo reporter
