Audi Sport TT Cup: Sheldon van der Linde takes two of two at Hockenheimring

Sheldon van der Linde wins both races of the opening round of the 2016 Audi Sport TT Cup at Hockenheimring. The South African driver, who will be 17 next week, is the younger brother of the 2014 ADAC GT champion Kelvin van der Linde, so it’s obvious that he decides to follow the footsteps of the successful brother.

In the first race, Sheldon triumphed ahead of poleman Dennis Marschall and Joonas Lappalainen, while after the second race Nicklas Nielsen and Christoph Hofbauer completed the podium.

The first podium of the 2016 Audi Sport TT Cup

Double poleman Marschall lost in both races

Dennis Marschall started from pole in both races but didn’t convert his speed from qualifying into the victories. He lost the lead in the early phase of both races and after that the only he could chase leading Van der Linde.

In the first race, Marschall finished behind South African while in the second race some technical problems and smoking car forced him to slow down, so he finished fifth. The young Finn Joonas Lappalainen was consistent in both races, but in the second race, he lost the battle for the podium from Nielsen and Hofbauer.

Drivers line-up of 2016 Audi Sport TT Cup

Scott Speed showed the speed, Mikkelsen jumped on the start

Twenty drivers participated in the opening round of the second season of Audi Sport TT Cup, including 16 permanent entries and four guest drivers. Two world famous racing stars were among guests, former F1 driver Scott Speed and current WRC driver Andreas Mikkelsen.

Speed was the best among guest drivers in both races, finishing seventh in Race 1 and 11th in Race 2. Mikkelsen had a good start in Race 2 and jumped from tenth to sixth, but race officials said it was a really jump start and Mikkelsen gets drive-through penalty.